Non-Disabled Howard County Public School Students Design Adapted Cars for Students with Disabilities

May 13th, 2016

Non-disabled students from several Howard County high schools have worked together to develop adapted ride-on cars for their disabled peers. Students in the Allied Health and Engineering Academies at the Applications and Research Laboratory (ARL) designed, customized and adapted the cars based on Cedar Lane School (CLS) students’ accessibility challenges.

Working with Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) physical therapists, the ARL students spent this school year developing accommodations, such as various switch activation sites for hand, head and foot accessibility; sensors to avoid obstacles; remote control options; and seating for optimal positioning. The cars were tested with Cedar Lane students and adjusted to better meet their needs, before being distributed to special needs students at CLS and Regional Early Childhood Centers to support development of language, social, fine motor, gross motor skills and more.

“The adapted car project empowered non-disabled students studying in-demand career fields of allied health and engineering to help students with disabilities increase their mobility,” said Dr. Renee A. Foose, HCPSS Superintendent. “This is just one of the many innovative ways that HCPSS supports the talents and abilities of all its students.”

“The ARL students created imaginative designs with the ride-on cars to assist Cedar Lane students in learning to move independently,” said Jane Jung-Potter, program head of Physical Therapy in the HCPSS Department of Special Education. “It was powerful to see our students with disabilities be given the tools by fellow HCPSS students to move more readily in adapted ride-on cars.”

The adapted car initiative is a collaborative effort through HCPSS’ Physical Therapy and Adapted Physical Education departments. The program stems from a professional learning session on independent mobility through the use of ride-on cars with Dr. James C. “Cole” Galloway, founder of Go Baby Go!