Parents often have trouble keeping up with a toddler. The little ones like to roam around, meander and sometimes get into things they shouldn’t. But some, like Josiah, have mobility challenges until now -- thanks to a group of Support Coordination professionals at the DES Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD). A small group of DDD employees pulled their funds together to sponsor an adaptive vehicle for a young child to use at this year’s annual Believe Beyond Ability Derby Day event. The group didn’t know who would receive the modified car they sponsored; they just wanted to be able to help one child.
Meet Josiah and his mother, Emily. When Josiah was born, he spent his first year in Phoenix Children’s Hospital. "When he came out of the hospital, he was like a newborn," said Emily. "He couldn’t hold his head up or anything." At 18 months of age, "We were still working on tummy time."
Last fall, Josiah’s physical therapist told the family about a free medical-equipment giveaway through the nonprofit, Believe Beyond Ability. "We went there and they were looking for anything that we could use to help Josiah," said Emily. That’s when Emily met Melanie Conatser, a cofounder of Believe Beyond Ability. "[Melanie] got to meet Josiah and we talked about his story," said Emily. "She’s the one who told me about Derby Day. She asked if that was something I wanted to do. At first, I was like, ‘No, no, no, he can’t do that.’" To which Melanie responded, "No, no, no, don’t tell him what he can’t do. He can do it."
"I didn’t know what to expect," said Emily. "I thought it was a wooden box derby car. I was really surprised!"
This year’s Derby Day event was held on February 13. Usually held at a park, this year’s event was held at a private residence in Queen Creek, with "a lot of area and no crowds due to COVID concerns," explained Melanie. At the event, Believe Beyond Ability volunteers provided modified vehicles to the individual families. Melanie explained that volunteers with Believe Beyond Ability use assistive technology to adapt motorized toy vehicles to an individual child’s capabilities.
Emily's reaction: "It was really amazing! It was awesome!" And Josiah’s reaction? "At first, he wasn’t too sure but when we turned on the car – it makes a [vroom, vroom] noise – he lit up!" Emily said that when Josiah goes to various doctor’s appointments – "something that he really hates" - for tests, treatments or blood draws or other things he doesn’t like, she and the staff try to distract him. Knowing that the tyke loves cars, his nurse one day played a YouTube video of car sounds and tires spinning. "He loves it!" said Emily. "As soon as he heard [his own vehicle making car noises], he lit up, he was all excited … he knew it was something good."
At the event, Josiah was joined and cheered on by his two sisters (ages 5 and 7), cousins, aunt and uncle, and grandparents. His sisters followed him around on the derby track. Another surprise for the family was that they were given the adapted vehicle to take home with them. "Since we’ve been home with [the vehicle], we’ve taken it out, we’ve gone around the park." One day, with Josiah in his car and his sisters on their bicycles, the siblings had a race. The vehicle allows Josiah to "be more engaging with his sisters. It’s a lot of fun and they love him so much." One day, Josiah and his dad went "off-roading in the dirt. Leave it up to dad."
"I think it’s so amazing," explained Emily. "I had no idea that anybody did anything like this, and I think it’s really amazing that you help kids that can’t move independently, learn that they can. It’s really good for them intellectually…and developmentally, especially when they’re two-years old and they’re still learning [how to] sit. Just giving him that freedom is a powerful thing. It’s pretty cool!"
As Josiah gets older, the skills he’s learning from his adapted vehicle will be applied to learning how to operate a motorized wheelchair. "It’s also teaching him reaction, [that] everything you do has a reaction. It goes when he pushes [a button] and stops when he stops. That’s one thing this car does that’s so amazing. He can see that he’s making it, he’s doing it."
"It was a wonderful experience. It still is!"
And to the group of DDD Support Coordination professionals whom Emily and Josiah have never met: "Thank you for all that you’ve done! This was really something special, it really was. Thank you for what you do!"
Thank you DDD for Supporting "Team Josiah:"