Go Baby Go rolls out new cars for toddlers with disabilities

Do you want to help him? Do you want to drive over here to the parking
lot? Go Baby Go is a program that takes off the
shelf battery operated ride on toy cars and modifies them for children with disabilities
from birth to 3 years old to use for exploration and play. Providing access to active experiences through
power mobility devices such as motorized wheelchairs really promotes developmental benefits for
children with disabilities. Motorized wheelchairs cost at a starting price
of about $17,000. There are no commercially available devices
for children ages 2 and under.

So by modifying off the shelf ride on cars
for about $200 including the cost of the car and the modification supplies, we can provide
independent ability at a time much younger then what is typical. It also allows them to engage in lots of other
different skills, so interacting with their peers, riding along with their siblings, interacting
with family members in new and novel ways. We have two new car designs. One is what we are calling the "Sit To Stand"
car and this is really designed to provide access to mobility but also still work on
that physical skill of pulling from sit to stand, weight bearing, coordination, and balance
as well.

The other car is called "Throw Baby Throw"
which is a term that the students gave who designed it. We gave them the challenge of taking a off
the shelf toy based pitching machine making it switch activated and interfacing it with
the ride on car. So that children can engage in that skill
of throwing through activating the switch. Our gold standard is to figure out ways to
get kids with disabilities moving at the same time as their peers by any means necessary..