About GIANT Steps

GIANT Steps is a day-treatment program for preschool-aged children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder either before or at the time of assessment. Our unit has six classrooms with a capacity of 12 children each, serving a total of 60 preschoolers and their families (24 Medicaid & non-Medicaid). The classrooms are situated in Orem, Saratoga Springs, Provo, and Spanish Fork. We have a partnerships with Alpine, Nebo, and Provo School Districts to provide Special Education services for our students. These relationships allow us to run our program in typical school settings. Our program runs Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:20 p.m. We follow the school district schedules throughout the school year but continue our program until the end of June. During the month of July we provide a small summer program at Greenwood Elementary School in American Fork.

History
GIANT Steps Pre-School came to Utah County in 1997 as the Children’s Behavior Therapy Unit of Utah County when a few concerned and diligent parents who were driving their children to Salt Lake City on a daily basis procured the funding. The program started out as a coordinated effort between Valley Mental Health, Wasatch Mental Health, and the three school districts, Alpine, Provo, and Nebo but later got it’s name when it became exclusive to Wasatch Mental Health. Although the relationships between the school districts remain, WMH has complete supervision of staff hiring and training, as well as treatment approaches and implementation. Through the years G.S. has experienced variable funding but continues to provide quality treatment and results free of charge to families.

For more information, visit the Giant Steps page on the Wasatch Mental Health site www.wasatch.org. Click on the “Youth Services” tab and select “Giant Steps.” Or visit www.wasatch.org/giantsteps/giantsteps.html