ACHE PT & OT Students at ‘Go Baby Go’
FORT SMITH, AR — Physical Therapy (PT) and Occupational Therapy (OT) students at the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education (ACHE) are helping children with disabilities move, play, and thrive through a special nationwide initiative called Go Baby Go. Under faculty supervision, these students are customizing ride-on cars tailored to each child’s unique needs, promoting independence, mobility, and confidence.
This year, eight children were enrolled in the program, which is funded by a seed grant through ACHE and supported by ARCBEST. Students are involved in every step of the process: evaluating the patients, writing insurance justifications, modifying the vehicles, and training both the children and their caregivers. Each family leaves with a custom car and a comprehensive plan of care, and parents are also provided with a remote control that can also assist with steering.
Kenzie and her sister
One of the participants, Kenzie, will turn 10 in May and has Cerebral Palsy, a group of conditions that affect movement, posture, and coordination. Because she has difficulty moving the right side of her body, ACHE students modified her ride-on car by moving the pedal to the left side. During the event, Kenzie cruised around the parking lot, smiling ear-to-ear with her four-year-old sister riding shotgun.
“All her brothers and sisters got their driver’s permit at 14. She said she would never drive, but this is very important because this shows her that she can,” said Kenzie’s mother, Rebecca Williamson. “From start to finish, this has been amazing. It’s amazing to see her driving. I know it’s not a real car, but it tells her that she can do anything.”
According to Ashley Clark, SPT II, “Kids being able to move, even if it’s limited, is very important. And this allows them to get the kind of experience they maybe wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.”
Rebecca Smith, SPT II, worked with a young child who has Spastic Quad Cerebral Palsy. “He has some lower extremity impairments and balance control issues,” said Smith. “We want to maximize our patient’s independence as much as possible so he can retain how long he can function on his own without help and for him to gain that extra strength.” To assist the boy, students installed a button on his steering wheel that lets him control the car’s movement independently.
“Seeing the smiles on all the kiddos’ faces has been my favorite part,” said Clark. “Allowing us to be out in the community and actually see the difference that we’re starting to make, even as students, is awesome.”
