Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation Becomes Certified Autism Center™, Joins Community-Wide Accessibility Initiative

A person in a black polo shirt holds a falcon on a leather glove, with a natural landscape in the background.

A child wearing a blue Los Angeles Dodgers cap and a gray Hurley t-shirt holds a small red object with both hands in a museum setting.

A child interacts gently with two large tortoises at a petting zoo, surrounded by a wooden fence and sunny outdoor setting.

Entrance of the Discovery Center, featuring a blue wall with clouds and colorful letters above the door, inviting exploration.

Becoming a Certified Autism Center™ through IBCCES marks a meaningful step toward fostering a safe, welcoming, and enriching environment where every individual can learn, explore, and thrive.”

— Emily Bonds, Deniell Aadland and Kate Corirossi, from education department

CARLSBAD, CA, UNITED STATES, November 12, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES) awards the Certified Autism Center™ (CAC) designation to Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation, recognizing the foundation’s efforts to best support every visitor. To earn this designation, at least 80% of staff completed autism-specific training to equip them with skills and understanding of best practices to support every individual who visits the foundation, especially autistic and sensory-sensitive individuals.

"The Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation is proud to champion inclusive, excellent environmental education for all learners. Becoming a Certified Autism Center™ through IBCCES marks a meaningful step toward fostering a safe, welcoming, and enriching environment where every individual can learn, explore, and thrive,” says Emily Bonds, Deniell Aadland and Kate Corirossi, from Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation education department.

Bonds, Aadland and Corirossi continue, “The IBCCES training was comprehensive, accessible to all staff and volunteers, and equipped our team with valuable strategies to better support individuals with autism and other cognitive differences. We're excited to put this knowledge into practice as we continue our mission of making nature and education accessible to everyone."

Training provides staff with clear, standardized protocols for interacting with guests with autism and other invisible disabilities. This reduces hesitation, guesswork, and the time it takes for staff to decide how to handle a situation, leading to faster and more confident service. Optimized resource allocation and reduced service recovery costs are direct benefits of operational efficiencies often seen as a result of certification. Certification fosters a strategic, big-picture impact that enhances the organization’s reputation and creates a culture of excellence, all working together to build long-term institutional value.

“IBCCES is proud to award Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation with the Certified Autism Center™ designation, recognizing its dedication to creating an environment where every person feels welcome. We look forward to seeing the continued impact of this training and certification on both foundation staff and visitors,” says Myron Pincomb, IBCCES board chairman.

Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation has created a welcoming, sensory-friendly environment for the autistic community by adding essential resources to promote comfort and relaxation. Headphones help reduce auditory overstimulation, while sunglasses provide relief from bright lights. A selection of soothing toys and devices offers calming tactile experiences, and a designated calming space ensures individuals have a quiet retreat to recharge. These thoughtful additions ensure that all visitors, regardless of sensory needs, can enjoy and connect with nature in a way that feels safe and comfortable to them.

The foundation also offers Lagoon Learning For All, an inclusive nature program open to all adults that is specifically designed with accommodations for neurodiverse individuals (ages 18+). At the Discovery Campus, participants explore nature, develop essential life skills and engage in meaningful learning experiences in a supportive and welcoming environment.

By completing the CAC process, Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation joins a wider movement initiated by Visit Carlsbad, helping Carlsbad work to achieve the Certified Autism Destination™ (CAD) designation. The CAD designation means visitors have multiple trained and certified options to choose from when in the area, including entertainment, recreation, and lodging.

For more than two decades, IBCCES has been a leader in providing autism, sensory and neurodiversity training and certification for professionals worldwide, including those in healthcare, education, public safety, travel, and corporate sectors. As the only credentialing board offering these programs, IBCCES provides training from subject matter experts and autistic self-advocates, along with long-term support, continuous learning, onsite reviews, and renewal requirements to ensure continued growth and lasting impact.

To further support inclusivity efforts, Agua Hedionda Foundation is featured on the IBCCES Accessibility App, which is free to download. This app provides individuals with a variety of disabilities real-time guidance on certified destinations, sensory-friendly spaces, and tailored recommendations. By connecting users to accessible locations worldwide, the app helps ensure seamless, enjoyable experiences for everyone.

IBCCES also provides access to resources such as AccessibilityCertified.com and AutismTravel.com, free online tools for families that list certified locations and professionals. Each organization listed on the site has met IBCCES certification requirements.

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About Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation
The Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit nature campus in Carlsbad, CA. Through excellent environmental education, every visitor becomes a Future Lagoon Steward and Watershed Warrior, empowered with one new practice to help Mother Earth. We energize people through education and outreach to preserve the Agua Hedionda Lagoon and a healthy, accessible watershed. Our vision: be Stewards of the Watershed, inspiring future generations to enjoy a safe, healthy lagoon and space in nature for all.

About IBCCES
Delivering the global standard for training and certification in the fields of autism, neurodiversity, and accessibility – IBCCES provides a series of certification programs that empower professionals to be industry leaders and improve the outcomes for the individuals they serve. For over two decades, IBCCES has been a global leader, setting the industry standard in autism and cognitive differences training. IBCCES works in over 111 countries and provides training in 8 languages, and its programs have been recognized around the world as the leading benchmark in training and certification.

In addition to individual certification programs, IBCCES partners with cities, destinations, and organizations on initiatives like the Certified Autism Destination™ (CAD) and Autism Certified City™ (ACC), ensuring autistic and sensory-sensitive residents and visitors feel welcomed and
safe. Destinations that achieve the CAD designation have completed a specialized program that ensures a multitude of recreation, hospitality and entertainment organizations have completed an autism and sensory-sensitivity training, certification and IBCCES facilities review process. The ACC designation expands on that program and includes IBCCES training and certification for the public safety, education, healthcare and workplace sectors.

IBCCES also created the Accessibility App, AutismTravel.com, and AccessibilityCertified.com – free resources for individuals with a variety of neurodiversities and disabilities, listing certified locations and connecting individuals to other resources and each other.

Meredith Tekin
IBCCES
+1 904-508-0135
marketing@ibcces.org
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