By Charlotte Carter
Refusing to look at a camera is not typical for a preschooler.
When you are autistic, however, many things are not typical.
Katie Beck, an autism aide for Giant Steps, said it is interesting to see the improvements that occur throughout the year.
Giant Steps is a preschool program that helps young children to learn. It is located at Foothill Elementary school in Orem.
'At first, the child''s facial expressions wouldn''t change and they wouldn''t acknowledge you as you were trying to interact with them,' Beck said. 'But now we can tease them and play games with them as well.'
Beck said helping autistic children stay on task and improve behavior is the main focus of Giant Steps. Most of the program is based on attending - helping the child to keep their feet on the floor, hands in their lap, use a quiet voice and maintain eye contact with the teacher.
'My favorite part of the program is attending,' said Janeen McFadden, an autism specialist for Giant Steps. 'I would have a hard time teaching without it.'
Giant Steps has work sessions throughout the day to help children be attentive and interact in typical social situations.
'Most children with autism memorize set schedules,' said Suzanne Stephens, co-director of Giant Steps. 'So we use field trips as a way to help them practice flexibility.'
Stephens said the field trips also help the community be more aware of the children and make the children adapt so they can be successful in society.
'The field trips are enjoyable because we can expose the children to new things and show them what we talked about in the classroom setting,' said Grace Waitt, an autism assistant.
Giant Steps also includes parents in their program.
'Parents are required to come in and help with the work sessions as well as go on field trips with us,' Stephens said. 'This allows the parents to see the expectations we have while in the community and enforce those same rules within their home.'
While Giant Steps only has enough funding to serve 36 children in the surrounding Alpine, Nebo and Provo School Districts, they hope to expand the program to help more students.
Karen Fairchild, co-director of Giant Steps, said Giant Steps continually sees improvement with the children each week and hopes to see more funding in the future.
'We want to give the same attention and assistance to more preschoolers throughout Utah County,' Fairchild said. 'There just aren''t enough programs to help these children.'