BABY STEPS TAKES PARENTS, SLOW-LEARNING CHILDREN BY THE HAND.

Byline: HEIDI RIED

Baby Steps and Santa Clarita Therapies are new to the area but have made big strides to help infants and toddlers who are developmentally challenged. Parents who have taken advantage of the Baby Steps program have found they can better help their children learn.

Roberta Dunn's 3-1/2-year-old twins have Down syndrome and have been with Baby Steps since they were 4 months old. They attended the program two hours twice a week, and it has made a world of difference for the family, Dunn said.

``They empower you to be an important part of your babies' life,'' she said.

The program taught her special skill in caring for her babies. Parent involvement and family support are among the program's goals.

``They teach me how to work through problems that my kids have,'' she said.

And the skills the twins have learned are helpful.

``Learning signs can alleviate frustration of tardiness to talk,'' she said. The staff also has worked on nutrition with her children, teaching them to properly chew and swallow.

Dunn said the program helped her when the twins were ready for preschool.

``People get intimidated when their children go from early intervention into preschool. It was an easy transition for me,'' she explained.

Leslie Ortega brought her child to Baby Steps when he was 2-1/2 and slow at learning to speak. ``He started to talk,'' she said about her son's progress. Activities in a group setting such as song time and some sign language have helped her son.

Ortega said Marianne Smith, director of the Santa Clarita program, has helped her son to talk more.

``She's working on sounds with him,'' she said.

Smith, a speech and language pathologist, has worked with children and adults, has a background in early childhood education and taught preschool for 11 years.

Each infant or toddler who enters Baby Steps is evaluated for gross motor, speech and language and cognitive, self-help and social skills. With the parent, an individual family service plan is designed.

Baby Steps is supported through federal and state funds and is a vendor of North Los Angeles County Regional Center. It is also a part of California's Early Start Program. Any child with special needs is entitled to free services, according to the Disabilities Education Act.

Baby Steps' staff members are trained professionals who also provide in-home services. The children have a variety of problems including prematurity, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, substance abuse or low birth weight.

Baby Steps was established in 1983 in the Antelope Valley. Dr. Elaine Fogel Schneider, the program's executive director, is a gubernatorial appointee to the State Interagency Coordinating Council for infants and toddlers and their families.

Dunn said that a staff member, Donna Collins, has meant a lot to her.

``She'll cry with excitement about something the child wasn't expected to do,'' she said.

To enter Baby Steps, families usually receive a referral from the Regional Center. Clients also may be referred by a physician. Baby Steps is open to infants and toddlers from birth to age 3. Santa Clarita Therapies provides speech and language therapy and occupational therapy for people of all ages.

The office is at Santa Clarita Plaza, 26111 Bouquet Canyon Road, Suite G-1. For information, call [phone].