‘This is Where Miracles Happen’

    The parents walked into the school office, eyes filled with apprehension. Their son Michael, a    bright and autistic boy of seven, was trailing behind them. Although his parents came to the school seeking an education for their son, in the back of their minds Michael’s parents really wanted answers to the concerns held by parents of developmentally-disabled children everywhere:

        -Who will take care of our child when we are gone?

        -Will he ever be able to live independently? 

        -Is he capable of learning a skill whereby he can earn a living to help him live a productive,            happy  independent life?’

        -What will become of him if something suddenly happened to us?

 

 

Headmaster Shirley Gil extended a hand and welcomed the family into her office. She listened attentively to Michael’s parents’ questions and concerns as Michael looked around at the kids’ drawings on the walls. When they were finished speaking, Shirley began to describe STEPSS Academy, Step Up Foundation, the school’s unique approach to helping children like Michael, and recount the success stories experienced throughout the years. The atmosphere in the room lightened considerably.

 

At the end of the meeting, Michael’s mother wiped away her tears and both parents showed the first signs of hope they had in years. 

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As Shirley concluded her overview of the school and Step Up Foundation, she leaned forward, smiling at the three of them.  ‘This is the place,’ she said, ‘where miracles happen’.

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Our Mission

The mission of Step Up Foundation is to provide children with autism and other developmental disabilities the education and tools they need to live independently so they may reach the full limits of their potential.  Working closely with STEPSS Academy and other community organizations, we provide our children with a comprehensive combination of elementary thru high school education, vocational training, and cognitive therapies focused on the individual and tailored to his or her unique ability.  Our objective is to ensure that every child is provided the opportunity to live a life filled with hope, dignity and independence.

Partnering with educators, families and community organizations, Step Up Foundation also provides financial and scholarship support to families so that their special needs child has access to an education and critical therapies that ensures the best opportunity to live independently and free from reliance on others.

 

When we nurture a special needs child with love and provide him or her the education, tools and confidence to live independently, the blessings echo throughout society.  When an autistic or developmentally-disabled adult has learned to live independently, a tremendous mental and financial strain is suddenly lifted from the parents.  On a societal level, tax monies are freed up due to the reduced the financial impact of fewer dependent adults on our social services and educational system.

 

 

The Road to Understanding

It has been a long struggle to change the way America views, integrates and accepts people with disabilities into our institutions and workforce. The doors to fair housing, employment and societal acceptance have opened, if ever so slightly. Indeed, as a society we have even begun to recognize that many autistic individuals excel at tasks requiring a particular type of cognitive ability.  Many others excel in occupations and roles traditionally denied them, and prove themselves in remarkable ways.

Yet progress has been slow as educators and advocates for the disabled work to break perceptions and beliefs mired in an imperfect past.

In the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70’s, it was common for the disabled to spend adult years until death heavily medicated and confined to bleak and cheerless institutions where shock therapies and mind-numbing drugs were “state-of-the-art” treatment. They spent their lives in oppressive surroundings devoid of meaningful social interactions with little access to the treatments and therapies imperative to successful emotional and cognitive development.    

Beginning in the last two decades, a new wave of enlightenment brought welcome changes. Group homes began to replace the old institutions, providing families a glimpse into a future filled with hope and opportunity. Now more integrated into the community, society became more understanding of the disabled living, working and working alongside them.

Although great progress has been made, it is only recently (and much of this is due to new medicines, and cutting-edge educational and therapeutic methods) that we have come to understand that the developmentally-disabled can- and should- have an enriching and contributing role in today’s society. Most importantly, we have begun to accept that if developmentally-disabled adults are to have the best chance for living fruitful, independent lives, they must be are provided with education, treatments and therapies necessary to become self-sufficient adults in control of their own lives. 

 

 

Autism Spectrum Disorder

According to the most recent findings from the Centers for Disease Control, one in 88 children in the US has an ASD (autism spectrum disorder). Although researchers aren’t sure why, this is a 78% increase since 2002, and the rate continues to rise.

Autism does not affect all children to the same degree, so scientists often utilize the term autism spectrum when describing how an individual is affected by the disease. Children on the lowest end of the spectrum, the most severely affected, may be non-verbal, intellectually-disabled, and prone to self-injury.  On the opposite end of the spectrum are children who are highly intelligent, some of whom possess unique talents and abilities. Many of these children are further  diagnosed with the ASD subtypes of Asperger Syndrome or Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified (PDD, NOS).  These children often exhibit difficulty with communication and social interactions, along with some type of repetition in interests and behaviors.

Knowing where a child falls on the autism spectrum is very useful for determining the appropriate therapies and educational environment. Step Up Foundation accepts children at all levels of the spectrum, and we are committed to helping each child reach his or her full potential.

 

 

Scholarships – The cost of specialized education for autistic and developmentally-disabled children can be prohibitive for many families, and Step Up Foundation’s scholarship program removes cost barriers that would otherwise stand between a child and a life-changing education.

There is no debate or doubt: early intervention is a child’s best hope for the future. Early attention to improving the core behavioral symptoms of autism will give the child – and the rest of the family – several important benefits that they will not gain if they take a wait-and-see approach until the child enters school at

age four or five. A good early intervention program has at least four benefits:        

             1.) It will provide the child with instruction that will build on his or her strengths to teach                  new skills, improve behaviors, and remediate areas of  weakness,

            2.) It will provide the family with information that will help them better understand their                  child’s behavior and needs, 

            3.) It will offer resources, support, and training that will enable the family to work and play               with their child more effectively,

            4.) It will improve the outcome for the child.

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For these reasons, an intervention program for the child should be implemented as soon as possible after he or she receives a diagnosis. However, it can be very challenging to teach young children with autism. They have a unique profile of strengths and needs and require intervention services and teaching approaches that are sensitive to these needs. That’s why strategies that worked for teaching other children to remain seated at the dinner table, to play appropriately with a toy, or to say words simply don’t work as well for a child with autism. In the same way, intervention programs that are generic – rather than autism specialized – are less likely to be effective for a child.