Photo: Visit Mesa
Mesa, Arizona's third-largest city, is the world's first Autism Certified City. And it is largely due to Marc Garcia's 2018 family vacation in California. Garcia, president and CEO of Visit Mesa, was bothered by comments from hospitality professionals about his youngest son's meltdowns. He found IBCCES (the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards), which was training employees at big tourist attractions to supportively engage with visitors who have cognitive disorders. Mesa had an enthusiastic response to the training offer. Many hotels, restaurants and attractions now offer noise-canceling headphones or a quiet room with weighted blankets. Some hotels and restaurants direct visitors to a person who can adjust lighting or sound. All of Mesa's parks, recreation and community facilities and museums are autism certified. Nearly a dozen other cities, from Palm Springs in California to Dubai in the UAE, have enrolled in programs towards increasing certified autism-friendly businesses
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