WHS Program Puts Students with Mobility Challenges in the Driver’s Seat

As he sped into the Pioneer Middle School gym in his motorized wheelchair, you could sense that Bryan Delarosa was the kind of young man that didn’t let anything hold him back including his mobility. Flashing a smile, Bryan was helped from his wheelchair into a custom set of wheels thoughtfully designed by students in the Wenatchee High School (WHS) engineering program.

Through the Go Baby Go program, WHS students have been modifying battery-operated ride-on cars for kids with mobility challenges. Bryan, age 13 was the most recent student to be chosen for a customized vehicle. Seniors Niko Omlin and Rhett Goviea, who are leading the design process for Bryan’s vehicle were quietly observing the modifications they made after his last fitting and making mental notes on further tweaks necessary to accommodate Bryan’s unique needs.

“The harness is just a little too tight this time,” Rhett commented. “We’ll want to make some modification to the wheels too. It’s come a long away since we first started,” he said. Niko and Rhett started with the standard Power Wheel starter kit and after meeting Bryan began the customization process. Each case is different and there are varying levels of adaptation that need to happen depending on the needs of the driver, explained Niko.

Cole Galloway, a physical therapy professor at the University of Delaware, started the Go Baby Go program in 2012. He had been working with another department on designing high-tech robots that could help young children with mobility issues explore their world independently. The project was expensive though, making it out-of-reach for most families. He shifted gears when he walked into a toy store and saw battery-operated ride-on cars, realizing they could be modified to the task for a lot less money. The program took off from there with schools, communities, and companies nationwide pitching in to purchase and modify the cars.

WHS Engineering instructor Doug Merrill learned about the Go Baby Go Progam during a conference and saw potential for his mechanically inclined high school engineering students to get hands-on experience with everything from the problem-solving skills required to figure out how to adapt the cars to fit the individual needs of the students to the wrench-turning and wiring skills needed to make the changes. Merrill applied for and received a $10,000 state grant to buy 20 of the cars, along with the tools and parts needed to make the modifications.

During Bryan’s fitting session, Physical Therapist Patricia Collins, DPT, provided hands-on support and evaluation of Bryan’s experience carefully noting his ergonomics and reflex responses, while Bryan maneuvered around the gym and experimented with the joystick operation. Patricia, a new physical therapist in the District, is collaborating with the students and engineering teacher Doug Merrill on the customization of Bryan’s wheels. Collins also offered to connect Niko and Rhett with local experts who customize power wheelchairs, allowing them to take a deeper dive into learning about durable medical equipment.

What began with a handful of high school kids and a few robotic cars is now in high gear, enabling more local children to gain independence and put their mobility challenges in the rearview mirror. To date, three students have received a custom set of wheels from the WHS program and a license to “Go, Baby, Go!”

Watch the video