Friendly Auto Centers Becomes First Auto Center to Earn Certified Autism Center Designation

Friendly Auto Centers has earned the Certified Autism Center (CAC) designation from the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES).  Friendly Auto Centers is now the first-ever auto center to earn the CAC designation to help better serve customers with autism or other sensory needs.

“Autism Certification is very important for both personal and professional reasons. To begin with, my wife and I and at least two of our employees have children or grandchildren who are on the autism spectrum. We know firsthand of the daily struggles families face when a member has autism. We have each had unhappy experiences in public places with our child/grandchild with autism and know firsthand how isolating, frustrating and at times, even frightening it can be to be in a place where people don’t or can’t help you, where you are singled out as having ‘that kid’ or ‘that adult’, being purposefully ignored, or at the worst, not being able to go somewhere because it’s just too hard,” says owner of Friendly Auto Centers Steve Rozansky. “With all this in mind, when the opportunity came up to both educate our entire team as well as serve a very underserved community we jumped on the chance. We want families with people with autism to know that they can come here and ‘we get it’….we will accommodate a parent/grandparent with a child who is having difficulty, we will take extra time to speak with a person on a spectrum because we know that his/her questions are valid to them. We understand that the smells and noises we experience may be 1000 times more powerful to someone else, and we accept all the differences. It is both an honor and great responsibility to serve this community and we will work hard to be worthy of the challenge.”

The organization joins 60+ businesses in and around Mesa, AZ, as part of a community-wide initiative that started in 2019, initiated by Visit Mesa, which culminated in Mesa being awarded the first Autism Certified City designation from IBCCES in the world.

Friendly Auto Centers has also been awarded the highly coveted AAA Top Shop Award from AAA for two consecutive years and is a 2019 Finalist for the Better Business Bureau Torch Award for Ethics and has been nominated once again in 2020. They also have quality ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) certified technicians at Friendly Auto Centers to employ today’s latest automotive technology and are equipped to handle all major and minor repairs on foreign and domestic vehicles.

IBCCES Board Chairman Myron Pincomb, shared; “We are excited to work with Friendly Auto Centers who are taking direct action toward ensuring all their customers can receive the best possible service.”

For more than 20 years, IBCCES has been the industry leader in cognitive disorder training and certification for education, healthcare, and corporate professionals around the globe. IBCCES provides evidence-based training and certification programs created in conjunction with clinical experts and individuals with autism in order to provide professionals serving individuals with cognitive disorders a better understanding of what these disorders are, industry best practices, varied perspectives, and the latest research in these areas.

IBCCES also created CertifiedAutismCenter.com to serve as resources for individuals and families with children on the spectrum to connect with certified organizations and professionals, as well as each other.

About IBCCES

Delivering The Global Standard For Training and Certification in The Field of Cognitive Disorders – IBCCES provides a series of certifications that empower professionals to be leaders in their field and improve the outcomes for the individuals they serve. These programs are recognized around the world as the leading benchmark for training and certification in the areas of autism and other cognitive disorders.