Become a G.E.M.
Giant Steps
Volunteers Needed!
We are looking for volunteers to help with the Equine Therapy Program, located at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, IL.
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CLICK HERE IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VOLUNTEER!
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Giant Steps is an innovative educational and therapeutic program for individuals living with autism. We take pride in offering specialized programming to enrich the daily lives of each student and/or young adult with autism.

 

Licensed Therapeutic Day School

Click on each of the therapies to learn more about them.

Secondary Education

The Secondary Education Program at Giant Steps provides programming for students diagnosed with autism on the levels of Junior High, High School, and Transition. Secondary provides individualized programming focusing on functionality and independence through the integration of functional academics, life skills, vocational skill development, community readiness, and leisure/recreational development.

 Junior High

 

  • 4-9 students per class
  • Multi-disciplinary team includes occupational therapist, music therapist, social worker, and speech pathologist
  • Structure based on individual learning accommodations, sensory needs, support structure, and peer groups
  • Includes both individual and small group (2-4 student) based instruction
  • Curriculum is based on functional academics
  • Embedded throughout the classroom and academic sessions are Special Rec, Technology, and Creative Media/Arts
  • Junior High students participate in weekly classroom half day Community Outings in an addition to an all junior high field trip
  High School
  • 7-10 students per class
  • Multi-disciplinary team includes occupational therapist, music therapist, social worker, and speech pathologist
  • Individualized programming focused on increased independence in a variety of environments 
  • lncludes both individual and small group (2-4 student) based instruction
  • Curriculum is based on functional academics, living skills and pre-vocational skills
  •  Embedded throughout the classroom and academic sessions are Special Rec, Technology, and Creative Media/Arts
  • High School students participate in weekly classroom full day Community Outings in addition to an all high school field trip

Staffing Each classroom has 1 Special Education Teacher and 1 Senior PA.  The number of program assistants per classroom range depending on the level of need per class.


Student Community Outings:

  • Students participate in Community Outings every week. The length of time increases as students get older.
  • Outings focus on introducing and practicing functional money skills; appropriate social and communication skills, and specific IEP goals
  • Students are exposed to a wide variety of community environments
  • Community outings are designed to increase our students’ ability to be safe, active participants in the world around them
  • Students in the community continue to work on specific IEP goals, such as communication, appropriate social interaction, greetings, waiting, transitioning, money skills, referencing a schedule, academics, and safety
  • Examples- Various types of outings include:
    • Vocational (Hyatt Hotel, We Grow Dreams, food banks, pet stores)
    • Volunteer (Animal Shelter, Nursing Home, Habitat for Humanity)
    • Community Resource (Library, grocery stores, police/fire station)
    • Rec/Leisure (Pump It Up, ice skating, zoo, swimming)



Elementary Education

The Elementary Education Program at Giant Steps provides individualized programming for students diagnosed with autism in grades K-8.  Elementary provides academic and therapeutic programming that draws from a variety of treatment approaches specific to Autism Spectrum Disorders.  Students are divided into two distinct program models:  individualized intensive therapeutic learning or group-based learning (our Explorers Program).

Individualized Intensive Therapeutic Learning:
  • Appropriate for students at all levels of the Autism Spectrum
  • Individual or small group (2-4 students) learning environment
  • Individualized motivation system
  • Academic instruction utilizing a variety of
    teaching     strategies individualized to the student learning style
  • Pull-out and/or push-in therapy sessions
  • Sensory diet highly integrated throughout the day 
     Group-Based Learning (Explorers Program):
  • Appropriate for students performing close to grade level academically
  • Whole or small group learning environment (2-10 students)
  • All students using the same self-monitoring motivation system
  • Therapy services delivered in a whole or small group environment
  • Speech therapist or social worker pushed into the classroom at all times

  

  

 Elementary Support

Giant Steps is committed to partnering with families and providing excellent communication between home and school.  In addition to daily communication logs and therapy notes, the team at Giant Steps is willing to individualize family support as we know the best outcomes for our students occur if the school and family are working together.  Some examples of individualized family support include:

  • Home visits to collaborate on current challenges
  • Having parents attend their child’s therapy sessions
  • Sending video of students throughout their day
  • Regularly scheduled phone calls with families
  • Person-centered planning meetings with families
  • Training in-home workers through observation at school
  • Collaboration with outside therapists and doctors
  • Advocacy and referrals to appropriate community-based agencies
  • Monthly trainings for Giant Steps parents sponsored by social work department 

Staffing
  • Staffing is individualized by student needs, however, Elementary maintains a 1:1 student to staff ratio within the program
  • Every Student is supported by a multi-disciplinary team consisting of an occupational therapist, speech/language pathologist, music therapist, social worker, and behavioral analyst
  • Classrooms are staffed by certified Special Education teachers and highly qualified program assistants

 Inclusion One of the unique programs offered by Giant Steps is our inclusion program. This is a program that supports current Giant Steps' students in accessing appropriate educational or social opportunities within their home school district.  Once a child has made gains in skill areas that affected their ability to successfully participate within district programming, our staff can partner with families and the home school district to look at opportunities for GS students to participate in a less restrictive environment with GS support.  Some of our GS students spend part of their day in community school.

Achieving the Possible with
Individualized Educational Planning


The Day School at Giant Steps is licensed by the Illinois State Board of Education and exclusively serves the needs of people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).