About Us

Giant Steps is a specialized school and therapy program for children with autism spectrum disorders. The school is located in Chesterfield, Missouri and serves students from greater St. Louis and Metro East. Giant Steps is certified to provide autism education by the Missouri and Illinois Departments of Education and approved as an autism therapy provider by the Missouri Department of Mental Health.

History

Giant Steps was established in 1994 by a group of parents of children with autism. The program was modeled on Giant Steps of Montreal, an agency that had pioneered a cross-disciplinary approach to autism that emphasized sensory integration activities in all therapies and academic instruction. The program’s early years were funded as a joint pilot project of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Department of Mental Health. In 1995, Giant Steps was granted 501c(3) not-for-profit status and in 1998, the program became a purchase-of-service provider for area school districts.

Giant Step of St. Louis served 12 children in its first year and today serves an average of 25 students in its school-year program. In 2006, a grant from the Dana Brown Charitable Trust enabled Giant Steps to expand its summer programming into a full-scale day camp for children with autism spectrum disorders. 50 campers attend Camp Giant Steps each summer.