Hi, just a thought, here -- have you thought about building "practice steps"? I used to do it in my obedience classes, used cases of dogfood cans turned cardboard side up and made long steps of them. That way, the pups and older dogs in the class were able to use "big" steps that had a small rise and they could see all of it and seldom had problems. I, too, have had pets that didn't care for steps, mostly because of lack of exposure to them. If this child has been abused on steps (shoved up them or "kicked" down them), it will take a long while, but in the meantime, if you could build a low set of steps or get some childrens' steps and make sure they're secure, maybe you could help her learn that you, specifically, are not going to hurt her when it comes to stairs. Lots of praise and treats in the process and maybe one day, she'll just chase that old cat right up those stairs. Good luck and keep us posted.