Physical therapists\u00a0from as far away as Israel gathered\u00a0Jan. 20-21\u00a0at the College of Health and Public Affairs for\u00a0the\u00a0first global summit of the mobility project\u00a0known as Go Baby Go!<\/p>\n
Joining the group was Professor Cole Galloway from the University of Delaware, who founded Go Baby Go! to develop new and\u00a0inexpensive\u00a0ways
\nfor individuals with mobility impairments\u00a0to explore their world. The project’s innovations include modified ride-on cars for young children and harness systems for children and adults.<\/p>\n
Go Baby Go! has\u00a0grown to include more than 60 chapters around the world. Among them is the\u00a0UCF Go Baby Go! chapter led by Jennifer Tucker, associate lecturer of physical therapy. The\u00a0summit offered Go Baby Go! chapters an opportunity to reflect and plan ahead.<\/p>\n
“We came together\u00a0to synchronize ideas,” said physical therapy Program Director Patrick Pabian. “We want to have\u00a0the same message and collectively raise the visibility of\u00a0Go Baby Go!”<\/p>\n
Attending the summit were\u00a0representatives from Go Baby Go! chapters at UCF; Cleveland State University in Ohio; the University of North Florida in Jacksonville; Washington State University in Pullman; Oregon State University in Corvallis; Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo.; Marymount University in Arlington, Va.; and Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel.<\/p>\n
“We\u00a0began the summit with\u00a0chapter reports,” Tucker said,\u00a0“so everyone had an overview of what others are doing around the country.\u00a0What they’re doing is amazing.”<\/p>\n
Galloway followed\u00a0with a state-of-the-project address to the group. He\u00a0described Go Baby Go!’s reach, which\u00a0now\u00a0includes 50 hands-on workshops, more than 6,000 modified ride-on cars, more than 10,000 Facebook followers, a TED talk and an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
He also spoke about the latest Go Baby Go! initiatives, which include partnerships with the toy industry and development of\u00a0Go Baby Go! homes\u00a0near the University of Delaware campus. The homes will feature\u00a0harness systems for adult clients that\u00a0are “user-designed,” Galloway said. “It’s not high-tech, it’s go-tech.”<\/p>\n
Later Galloway and the participants discussed strategies to\u00a0seize opportunities and address challenges in the future.\u00a0They also participated in a brain-storming session complete with white boards and colored markers.<\/p>\n
The summit provided\u00a0an opportunity to\u00a0showcase the college’s Knights on the Go Cafe, which\u00a0features a Go Baby\u00a0Go!\u00a0harness system for\u00a0adults with mobility impairments.<\/p>\n
Tel Aviv University physical therapist\u00a0Nilly Waiserberg was among those who\u00a0watched client Diana Tafur move around the food and beverage kiosk\u00a0with support from\u00a0the\u00a0harness system. Waiserberg was pleased to see\u00a0the\u00a0system\u00a0in operation and would like to implement\u00a0it in her country.<\/p>\n
“It’s been\u00a0amazing to meet all of the people and learn from them,” Waiserberg said. “We are going to come home with many insights.”<\/p>\n
She\u00a0started a Go Baby Go!\u00a0chapter\u00a0in Tel Aviv a year and a half ago and initially focused on building modified ride-on cars for children with impaired mobility.<\/p>\n
“There is an enormous need in Israel,” Waiserberg said. “We’ve already given away 150 cars, but we always have a waiting list\u00a0for 100 more.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Physical therapists\u00a0from as far away as Israel gathered\u00a0Jan. 20-21\u00a0at the College of Health and Public Affairs for\u00a0the\u00a0first global summit of the mobility project\u00a0known as Go Baby Go! Joining the group was Professor Cole Galloway from the University of Delaware, who founded Go Baby Go! to develop new and\u00a0inexpensive\u00a0ways for individuals with mobility impairments\u00a0to explore their world. The project’s innovations include…","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":75979,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,12],"tags":[15761],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-75976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-health","tag-pegasus-briefs"],"yoast_head":"\n