Autism Certification

[horsesboy]

SF is working on training to get all of there parks certified by International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES) as Certified Autism centers. It's great to see a company reaching out to special needs families and individuals like this.

Six Flags to Become First Family of Parks to Earn Certified Autism Center™ Designation

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE:SIX), the world’s largest regional theme park company and the largest operator of waterparks in North Americ

www.businesswire.com

 

[BGWnut]

First family of parks? SEAS just needs BGW to get certified and then all of their parks will be certified IIRC. I know for sure that Sesame and the 3 SeaWorlds are

 

[horsesboy]

First family of parks? SEAS just needs BGW to get certified and then all of their parks will be certified IIRC. I know for sure that Sesame and the 3 SeaWorlds are

I looked into that claim thinking the same way but couldn't find anything on either BG park or the water parks holding the certification. So it doesn't seem like it's completely unfair for SF to boast that they are the first to do it company wide. But Sea as a company does have a good reputation for taking care of special needs guests.

 

[BGWnut]

I looked into that claim thinking the same way but couldn't find anything on either BG park or the water parks holding the certification. So it doesn't seem like it's completely unfair for SF to boast that they are the first to do it company wide. But Sea as a company does have a good reputation for taking care of special needs guests.

I know Aquatics in Orlando does for sure. They made a big deal about being the world's first waterpark to be certified.

 

[Crunchewy]

I posted about this on reddit a while back about some specific park. Pretty sure it was SFA. And a person with autism responded bitterly saying that this board is a joke and is not doing good things for people with autism. I forget the details of their complaint, but they REALLY did not like this Certified Autism Center thing. So YMMV.

No, it was Dorney Park

 

[Crunchewy]

I think I overstated that a bit, but here's what they said:

As an autistic in the industry, this doesn't necessarily mean anything. The certifications are backed by organizations known for pushing stereotypical and inaccurate information about autism, and often geared towards accommodating kids (and their parents) with little to no information on accommodating adults. It is almost always a PR thing with little impact on the guest experience for us.

They appear to have partnerships/program development with The Autism Society and Autism Speaks, both of which have been heavily decried by the autistic community....and none of the major autistic-led organizations such as ASAN are involved. It’s kind of like how Komen sells pink shit and pays their CEO big time, if Komen also put out commercials calling breast cancer patients an ‘epidemic’ that ‘ruin marriages’.

Here's the Dorney Park article about their certification. It's the same organization: https://www.dorneypark.com/blog/201...rhdO5uL9ZEsRpIoupxe9gVO4-ChHJrPirTwpxrMWULJVo

 

[Ziva]

I mean, that is actually true, and I don't see anything in that comment that's negative towards ParkFans. These orgs DO suck, and they are definitely not oriented towards autistic adults. It's nice for families with autistic children that there are more options for a day out, but there's more to autism -- and autism advocacy -- than just families with autistic kids.

 

[Crunchewy]

I mean, that is actually true, and I don't see anything in that comment that's negative towards ParkFans. These orgs DO suck, and they are definitely not oriented towards autistic adults. It's nice for families with autistic children that there are more options for a day out, but there's more to autism -- and autism advocacy -- than just families with autistic kids.

I didn't mean to imply that it was negative toward parkfans. Did I do that? Just reporting what was said to me when I posted about Dorney on Reddit.

 

[BGWnut]

I think I overstated that a bit, but here's what they said:



Here's the Dorney Park article about their certification. It's the same organization: https://www.dorneypark.com/blog/2019/october/dorney-park-achieves-certified-autism-center™-designation?fbclid=IwAR12zDZ60HKBQrrhdO5uL9ZEsRpIoupxe9gVO4-ChHJrPirTwpxrMWULJVo

I get the point that he's making because Komen really is garbage. But the certified autism center certification doesn't come from either of the two organizations that the guy speaks of. It comes from an internationally recognized credentialing board. The article says that Dorney donates a portion to one of the organizations he mentioned during Autism Awareness week. So maybe that's where it's coming from.

His point is valid about it being more geared towards families who have children on the autism spectrum than adults. But that doesn't make it any less valuable