Beaches Resorts Expands Its Advanced Certified Autism Center Status to 2023

Sixteen years ago, Joel Ryan, the Sandals Resorts International Group Manager of Themed Entertainment and Children’s Activities, was a Camp Counselor at Beaches Turks and Caicos when one family with two children on the spectrum arrived.

Ryan sat down with the parents to create a customized itinerary and experience for their children — the first time the resort had ever done this. Thirty minutes into the conversation, their seven-year-old girl touched Ryan on the face with her palm. It was a significant moment for the parents, and her mother asked Ryan to join them on the beach, as she had never seen her daughter react to a stranger so comfortably.

Ryan went to the beach in his full uniform with the family. The young girl sat down in the sand with her brother and Ryan, and she didn’t move. For five hours, they sat in the sand near the water in silence.

“For the first time in my life, I was looking at the world using her eyes,” Ryan recalled. That week, the young girl exhibited social behaviors that her parents never thought she would be capable of doing.

This experience helped Beaches Resorts to understand how significant of a role they could play in the vacation experience of families with individuals with autism. To best do that, they sought autism certification.

In 2017, Beaches Resorts became the first resort company worldwide to be recognized as a Certified Autism Center (CAC) by the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES), the global leader in cognitive disorder training and certification. Then in 2019, Beaches Resorts became the first to attain Advanced Certified Autism Center (ACAC) recognition.

When actress Holly Robinson Peete learned that Beaches Resorts had become an autism-certified center, she was overly joyed, as she herself has a son, RJ, who has autism. Finding a vacation destination that understood the needs of her family hadn’t existed before then.

“There was no place that could accommodate us,” she said. “We didn’t have this option. It just didn’t exist, so vacations were stressful.”

Robinson Peete recalled a vacation in Hawaii when her son had what she called a ‘meltdown’ in a restaurant and the family got kicked out.

“If he melted down in a restaurant [at Beaches Turks and Caicos], there would be somebody that would understand it,” she said.

Ryan explained that Beaches has trained security, housekeeping, kid’s camp counselors, and food and beverage staff to understand the various experiences of people on the spectrum.

“If someone had a meltdown, the staff knows how to work with the family and calm the other guests in the restaurant by saying, ‘It’s okay. We got this. It’s part of life,’” Ryan noted.

Beaches Resorts created a new culture of education and inclusivity of people with different intellectual and physical abilities at their resorts. For the first two years, their tag line was, “We see amazing in all kids.” Now – the tag line is, “We see amazing in all individuals.”

“We felt it was necessary for us to be able to create a space where folks never felt ostracized, uncomfortable, or disconnected,” Ryan said.

For four years, families with individuals with autism have been able to benefit from an extensive program at Beaches Resorts. Staff is trained in 40 credit hours on autism sensitivity and awareness in multiple key areas (social and motor skills, transition to adulthood, bullying, etc.).

The One-on-One Beaches Buddy program offers personalized and private childcare with a buddy that’s autism certified. Guests have access to a culinary concierge that can support dietary restrictions and requests, modified check-in options, sensory toys, DreamPad pillows, and a more sensory-friendly Kids Camp and entertainment areas. In 2019, the Beaches Resorts’ watersports teams completed the ACAC training and certification. In collaboration with PADI (Progressional Association of Dive Instructors) and IBCCES, people on the spectrum can become PADI-certified to scuba dive at Beaches Resorts.

Today, in honor of Autism Acceptance Month, Beaches Resorts is excited to announce that they’re expanding their partnership and ACAC designation with the IBCCES through 2023.

The renewed commitment to ACAC recertification will come with some changes. Beaches Resorts will launch a Sensory Stimulation Guide for guests with sensory needs. It will outline the degrees of sensory stimulation across the resort and include new designated ‘Low Sensory Areas’ which will be identifiable through maps, signage, and pre-planning materials.

Furthermore, team members in Jamaica and Turks & Caicos will be able to participate in virtual advanced autism training. This also includes training for Airport Arrival team members.

For a mother like Robinson Peete, Beaches is a place that she is happy to champion, especially through her foundation, HollyRod Foundation, which seeks to provide assistance to people with autism through job fairs, funding programs, and RJ’s Place in Los Angeles.

“To be on a property that understands who our kids are, not just one version of our kids, but understands that the spectrum is wide – it’s very rare,” she said.

For Robinson Peete’s son, RJ, Beaches Turks and Caicos is one of his favorite places in the world. He has made personal connections with staff and loves seeing Julia, the Sesame Street character with autism, who appears through the resort’s Sesame Street partnership program. This is almost a full circle moment for Robinson Peete, whose father, Matt Robinson, was the original Gordon on Sesame Street and introduced the world to many of the characters on the children’s TV show.

“RJ loves this property. He cares about being here with his family in a place that understands him. He doesn’t feel uncomfortable here,” said Robinson Peete.

The actress attributes her son’s love for the resort to the extensive and advanced autism training and program offerings of Beaches Resorts. She added, “I’m hopeful other properties will do this.”