Tucked inside in old church in North Wheeling, is a whole other world for so many children and their parents in the Ohio Valley.
It's the Augusta Levy Learning Center, the first place of its kind in the state to serve children with autism in a research-based program to fit their needs. The children receive one-on-one attention and therapy designed to enrich their worlds.
The school accepts children from diagnosis to age eight, calling it an early-childhood program.
The therapists who work at the center say what makes their jobs the most rewarding is the progress the children make.
"My favorite part about working here is definitely just interacting with the kids, seeing the progress they make, because all the little steps they make each day grow into bigger and greater steps and it's just awesome to see," said Allison West, who has been working at Augusta Levy for two years now.
Allison said she fell in love with the facility in 2008, when she started work as an intern.
Michael McCarron, who has been working at the center for a year now, calls it a "blessing" to see the kids strive for and meet their goals. He says one of the most important things they work on every day is communication.
"Enabling these kids to become more independent, to one day be able to talk and live their own lives," said Michael, when asked of the most rewarding part of his job was.
Staci, who has been an employee for six years now, has seen many children cycle through the program.
"I've got to see lots of kids come in and get to transition them into a typical school and just to see them in a typical classroom with their peers, playing and socializing is pretty much as rewarding as you can get," said Staci.
However, the specialized education the children receive comes at quite a cost. Treatment for one year costs $36,000, as opposed to $2-3 million for life-long services if young children do not get the evidence-based treatment they need, according to Kathy Shapell, Executive Director of Augusta Levy Learning Center.
"Autism affects 1 in every 91 children in the State of West Virginia. It's a real issue, we need more funding, we need more support so that more children in our state can access evidence-based treatment like Augusta Levy Learning Center provides," Kathy said.
That is why fundraising is so important to the school, and the first-ever Dancing With the Ohio Valley Stars event is so big.
Participants taking the stage include Bruce Wheeler, Bob Bailey, David Bloomquist, Ryan Ferns and WTRF"s very own Jim Forbes, who has been working to support Augusta Levy for three years now.
With the competition just one day away, Jim and his partner, Allison, say they are ready for the challenge.
When asked what the most challenging part was for him, Jim said "I thought it was going to be memorizing the dance itself, but, that was the easiest part, which surprised me, the hardest part is fine-tuning and making it look like I can dance."
Allison said the pair is doing great, they're planning on doing the cha-cha and said both of them are progressing very well.
Unfortunately, all 300 tickets for Saturday night's event at the Osiris Shrine Temple are sold out.
One hundred percent of the proceeds of the event will go to treatment for needy families who send their children to Augusta Levy Learning Center.
Shapell said no child will be turned away, even if they do not have the finances to attend the institution, but they must have a diagnosis before applying.
There is currently a list of over 100 children waiting to get into the facility, which serves about a dozen at a time.
Since Augusta Levy is a non-profit organization, once more funding is available; more students will be able to attend at one time.
For more information, or to donate to the Augusta Levy Learning Center, you can visit their web site at augustalevylearningcenter.org.
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