About Hospitality Listens

Our Mission

To inform, educate and support Hospitality professionals in higher education and those now working in the hospitality industry so that they can develop practices that will invite all families.

What We Believe

An inclusive community is a community that will thrive in business, in recreation and in community connections. In carrying out our mission, the Hospitality Listens team will create a Columbus community that is autism-friendly.

Who We Are

The Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology

Department of Human Sciences

Hospitality Management Advisory Board

OCALI

How We Began

In 2014, the OSU Hospitality Management program staff was directed by their dean to coordinate, develop and organize an event that would educate and provide professional knowledge of the Autism Spectrum to their students. The effort began with conducting Focus Groups with families of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) to learn what hospitality industry staff could do to make their establishments more accessible to families who present special needs. Engaged partners with the members of The Ohio State Hospitality Management Advisory Board, many of whom offered their venues to hold Focus Groups, hosted the first Hospitality Listens event and provided additional in kind and cash donations. OSU Hospitality Management students volunteered to be servers and to host an hour of activities prior to the dinner to entertain guests as their families arrived.

The first event, held on April 21, 2014, was a success. As a result, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, The Ohio State University and OCALI collaborated to develop a training program based on the lessons learned from the families and the event that were used to train staff in the local hospitality industry.