{"id":4514,"date":"2017-09-15T07:16:26","date_gmt":"2017-09-15T13:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/?p=4514"},"modified":"2019-01-31T09:37:04","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T15:37:04","slug":"occupational-therapy-students-provide-modified-cars-to-local-children-to-enhance-mobility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/2017\/09\/15\/occupational-therapy-students-provide-modified-cars-to-local-children-to-enhance-mobility\/","title":{"rendered":"Occupational Therapy Students Provide Modified Cars to Local Children to Enhance Mobility"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Belmont\u2019s School of Occupational Therapy partnered with Vanderbilt\u2019s Summer Academy\u00a0for GoBabyGo, an interdisciplinary collaboration and nationwide program with local chapters that work to provide modified toy cars to young children\u00a0living with physical, intellectual and\/or developmental disabilities like Down syndrome, spina bifida or cerebral palsy. Serving as much more than toys, these cars provide\u00a0an opportunity for children to move and explore their surroundings in news ways. GoBabyGo fills a significant need by providing low-cost, adaptive, ride-on toys for children.<\/p>\n

In the Music City chapter of GoBabyGo, occupational therapy (OT) students from Belmont University and high school students attending Vanderbilt\u2019s Summer Academy worked together to modify\u00a0toy cars for eight children with diagnoses including spina bifida, cerebral palsy and traumatic brain injuries. Each OT\u00a0student led and worked alongside a small group of high schoolers to assess the specific postural needs of each child and make recommendations for adaptations to the car. Most of the children have physical limitations (unable to sit up without support, limited arm movement\/strength, low vision, etc.) that make it difficult to operate the car as it is manufactured. Extra support and modifications like 5-point harnesses, side-railings, bilateral head supports, built up steering wheels and moving the ignition to an accessible location allow for independent use.<\/p>\n

Once recommendations were suggested, students made the modifications during their 3-week program alongside engineers at Vanderbilt. At the end of the program, all the parties (the children and their families, OT\u00a0students, high school students and instructors) presented the modified cars to the children at Belmont University. It was a memorable day filled with smiles, tears and lots of pictures.<\/p>\n

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River is pictured in his new car, complete with his favorite character\u2013Mickey Mouse!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

River, a participant who has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy,\u00a0required a 5-point harness across his chest to support him while sitting up, a built-up steering wheel to assist with reach, a constructed backboard and the rewriting of the ignition from a gas pedal to an easily accessible button.\u00a0In time and with practice, River will be able to drive himself around his house and neighborhood, exploring and learning about his surroundings and making friends independently\u2013all\u00a0opportunities he\u2019s never had before.<\/p>\n

President of Belmont\u2019s Occupational Therapy Student Association and OT student Cara Miller said the opportunity to work with River and his family was an incredible experience. \u201cAs an occupational therapy student,\u00a0I\u2019m very interested in working with individuals needing adaptive equipment like wheelchairs, prosthetics or other mobility devices to promote their ability to do the things that are important to them,\u201d she said. \u201cI was so impressed with how quickly the high school students were able to notice things like River leaning to one side and make suggestions that would enhance his\u00a0ability to sit upright. They were so intuitive and sensitive to all the children and their families that were a part of this program. This opportunity only reinforced my desire to work within this field of occupational therapy, and I can\u2019t wait for the next GoBabyGo build in October.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Belmont\u2019s School of Occupational Therapy partnered with Vanderbilt\u2019s Summer Academy\u00a0for GoBabyGo, an interdisciplinary collaboration and nationwide program with local chapters that work to provide modified toy cars to young children\u00a0living with physical, intellectual and\/or developmental disabilities like Down syndrome, spina … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,10,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exercise-science","category-chs","category-occupational-therapy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4514"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4515,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4514\/revisions\/4515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}