{"id":57882,"date":"2015-12-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-physical-therapy-engineering-students-deliver-early-christmas-presents-to-children-motorized-toy-cars-altered-to-fit-their-needs\/"},"modified":"2015-12-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-12-23T00:00:00","slug":"uri-physical-therapy-engineering-students-deliver-early-christmas-presents-to-children-motorized-toy-cars-altered-to-fit-their-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2015\/12\/uri-physical-therapy-engineering-students-deliver-early-christmas-presents-to-children-motorized-toy-cars-altered-to-fit-their-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 physical therapy, engineering students deliver early Christmas presents to children: motorized toy cars altered to fit their needs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I., Dec. 23, 2015 \u2013 Violet Graney and Brentyn Theroux zipped across a gym floor at the 溏心vlog免费B站 Tuesday in early Christmas presents from their pals in the physical therapy and engineering programs: toy cars.<\/p>\n


\nThe cars were any kid\u2019s dream gift. For starters, they were motorized. Push a button\u2014or in the case of Violet\u2019s, a wire\u2014and they go. Fast. Violet\u2019s car came with a purple bow and was inspired by the Disney movie, Frozen. Brentyn\u2019s car looked like a pirate ship on wheels.<\/p>\n


\nBut what makes the cars really special is that they are one-of-a-kind joy rides thanks to the ingenuity of the 溏心vlog免费B站 students. Applying their kindness, skill and smarts, physical therapy and biomedical engineering students modified the cars to meet each child\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n


\nFor 19-month-old Violet, whose left arm was damaged after a football-sized cancerous tumor was removed from it when she was an infant, that meant installing a wire that encourages her to use her left hand. For 5-year-old Brentyn, who has cerebral palsy, that meant installing a push button on the car\u2019s steering wheel that he can use instead of a foot pedal.<\/p>\n

Three of the five students\u2014Cara Nunez, of East Greenwich, an engineering student; and Sandra Maliangos, of Warwick, and Coral Hines, of Jamestown, both getting their doctorates in physical therapy\u2014delivered the cars to Violet and Brentyn at the physical therapy gym at Independence Square on 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Kingston campus. There was no doubt they were satisfied. Their smiles spoke for them.<\/p>\n


\n \u201cThis is awesome,\u201d said Vicky Theroux, of Warwick, as she watched her son, wide-eyed and giddy, race around the room. \u201cHe\u2019s super smart and very engaging. He wants to do what other kids do. Now he can.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tBoosting self-esteem and making kids feel like they\u2019re part of the gang are two goals of Lil\u2019 Rhody Riders, launched by Maliangos and Hines for a class leadership project. The program is modeled after Go Baby Go at the University of Delaware.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe students raised money to buy cars through a crowdfunding site<\/a> and then reached out to biomedical engineering students for their technical and mechanical expertise.<\/p>\n

Word got out about Lil\u2019 Rhody Riders, and requests from parents poured in. Violet\u2019s parents, 溏心vlog免费B站 staff members Angela and Dan Graney of South Kingstown, heard about the cars through Nunez. Angela is assistant director of the International Engineering Program Living and Learning Community. Dan is assistant dean for Outreach and Intervention in the Division of Student Affairs.<\/p>\n


\nMaliangos and Hines met with the Graneys and Theroux, as well as Brentyn\u2019s other mom, Vicky Richardson, to determine the best course of action and then took those suggestions to the engineering students.<\/p>\n


\n\tViolet\u2019s tumor\u2014a rare cancer called infantile fibrosarcoma\u2014was removed in October 2014. She\u2019s had eight chemotherapy treatments and another surgery, this one to repair damaged tendons on the fingers of her left hand. Hasbro Children\u2019s Hospital, where she spent 226 days, became her home away from home.<\/p>\n


\nToday, Violet is cancer-free: MRI scans show no sign of the illness.<\/p>\n


\nViolet\u2019s car entices her to use her left hand. She accelerates by pressing an upright wire on the handlebar\u2019s left side. The right side is covered with feathers or soft beads to interest her right hand and keep it from moving to the handlebar\u2019s left side. Brentyn\u2019s car allows him to stop and go with ease.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cWe looked at every car that was out there,\u201d said Vicky Theroux. \u201cThey either had foot pedals, which he can’t use, or complicated steering wheels. This car is perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nViolet was the first to arrive to check out her new toy. After scurrying about to introduce herself, she rushed up to her lavender-colored car and planted a kiss on a sticker of Olaf, the snowman in Frozen. A few minutes later, she was behind the wheel. <\/p>\n


\n\u201cRight here,\u201d said Maliangos, kneeling next to Violet and pointing to the car\u2019s wire.<\/p>\n


\nViolet pressed it gently with her tiny fingers and the car took off, to a pink ball, to walking bars, to mats.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cYou go girl,\u201d said Maliangos.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cYay!\u201d her fans shouted. \u201cGo, Vi, Go.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe Graneys and their other children, Harrison, 9, and Paige, 6, were thrilled to see Violet so happy. <\/p>\n


\n\u201cThe students are amazing,\u201d said Dan. \u201cThey took on a project just to help kids. We couldn\u2019t be more thankful to them. Obviously, Violet loves the car.\u201d

\nViolet was too busy driving to be interviewed. Her destination: a very big piece of furniture.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cOh, right into the desk she goes,\u201d said Dan, laughing. \u201cYou got to learn how to steer, baby girl.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nMore cars, including two Land Rovers and a John Deere tractor, are on the assembly line. After winter break, the students expect to get back to work and deliver more cars to children in Rhode Island and beyond in the spring. So far, the students have raised $2,500 for Lil\u2019 Rhody Riders.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cAll this clapping and smiling is what I like to see,\u201d said Nunez. \u201cI\u2019m excited to stay on the project. You hope the work you do helps at least one person. This is what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nTo contribute, please contact the students through the program\u2019s Facebook page.<\/a><\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re so grateful the students were willing to do this,\u201d said Angela Graney. \u201cFor me, because I work for the College of Engineering, it also warms my heart. What the engineering and physical therapy students are doing solves real-life problems for kids, and what\u2019s better than that. \u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tPictured above: <\/p>\n


\nViolet Graney rides in her new motorized toy car modified by 溏心vlog免费B站 engineering and physical therapy students.<\/p>\n


\n\t溏心vlog免费B站 students, from left to right, Cara Nunez, Sandra Maliangos, and Coral Hines help Violet Graney and Brentyn Theroux with their new motorized toy cars.<\/p>\n


\n\tViolet Graney\u2019s siblings, Paige and Harrison, help their 19-month-old sister celebrate her new toy car.

\n溏心vlog免费B站 photos by Nora Lewis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I., Dec. 23, 2015 \u2013 Violet Graney and Brentyn Theroux zipped across a gym floor at the 溏心vlog免费B站 Tuesday in early Christmas presents from their pals in the physical therapy and engineering programs: toy cars. The cars were any kid\u2019s dream gift. For starters, they were motorized. Push a button\u2014or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57886,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}