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Terri Gavlick, of Shavertown, reads ‘Wiggle’ by Doreen Cronin to the children during a program about autism at the Back Mountain Memorial Library on Wednesday, April 8.

Kim Quinn, of Dallas, helps her daughter Payton, 3, glue on the face of her monkey puppet during a program at the Back Mountain Memorial Library on Wednesday, April 8.

Silas Walters, 4, of Dallas, sits and listens during storytime.

Justin Camoni, 4, of Shavertown, holds up his finished sock monkey puppet.

Jules Frey, 3, of Dallas, glues parts on her monkey puppet.

Kaitlyn Keown, 4, of Dallas, poses with her finished monkey puppet.

Four-year-old Justin Camoni, of Shavertown, looks at a coloring sheet about autism.

Kaitlyn Keown, 4, Jules Frey, 3, and Bella Fagan, 4, all of Dallas, sit together during the program.

Bella Fagon, 4, of Dallas, blows up a balloon while listening during story time.

DALLAS — Representatives from Step By Step Inc. visited story time at the Back Mountain Memorial Library to educate children about autism on Wednesday, April 8 as part of Autism Awareness Month.

The non-profit is devoted to providing community support services to children and adults in Pennsylvania with mental illness, intellectual disabilities and autism.

“Our goal is to expose as many children and adults as possible to autism,” said Diane Kendig, Step By Step Inc. Program Director of Developmental Disability Services.

According to children’s librarian Janet Bauman, it’s important for youngsters to be introduced to all types of issues early in their lives.

“We want to acquaint the children with differences at an early age so when they get to school they are more accepting of other children,” Bauman said.

Mary Pilarcik, human resources assistant at Step By Step Inc., volunteered to read short books about autism to the children, including “Autism Is…?,” the story of a grandmother explaining the disability to her grandson, who was diagnosed with the disorder. They were also given stickers with the autism puzzle piece symbol and a coloring book explaining the autism spectrum disorder.

Representatives from Step By Step, Inc. also reads to students in the Dallas and Lake-Lehman school districts as well as at other libraries.

“We do an overall program with many community libraries,” Kendig said. “We’re trying to get children to have some exposure to autism so they have a beginning baseline and we try to follow the kids from kindergarten through fifth grade.”

Bauman believes bringing in community organizations helps maintain interest in the story time program.

“We fill almost every story hour that we offer,” she said. “It offers something a little different when somebody comes in from the outside. It’s good and it’s healthy.”

Shavertown resident Terri Gavlick volunteered to help with story time during the spring session and feels the program offers many benefits to children.

“I have a 4-year-old daughter, Julia, so I thought it would be nice to do,” Gavlick said. “It’s a way to get the kids interested in books and reading. I think it’s so important to introduce them to the rhyming and the stories. It’s also good for them to make friends and the parents can become friends.”

Gavlick said story time consists of an opening song, three or four stories, stretching and fun songs, finger plays like the Itsy Bitsy Spider and a craft based on the stories read that day.

Robyn Smith brings her granddaughter Jules Frey, 3, of Dallas to story time every week.

Smith listed interaction with other children and teaching them to like books as the main reasons she thinks it’s a good program. She also feels it’s important to teach children that everyone is not the same.

“It’s a good learning experience,” Smith said. “I hope she took something away from it about autism and can better understand it.”