The HAT Project Featured on Mobile's Fox10 News.
“Posted: Oct 21, 2016 6:21 PM CDT
Updated: Oct 21, 2016 7:50 PM CDT
By Dani Dials, FOX10 News Producer
11-year-old girl receives first ‘Adaptive Toy’ car from Hargrove. Photo: FOX10 News
MOBILE, AL (WALA) -
A little girl with cerebral palsy is one happy camper, after a very special delivery from a local engineering company.
Emma Pablo, 11, is the first child to receive what engineers at Hargrove are calling its first ‘adaptive toy.’
It’s her own pink toy car that helps her get around. Many mobility limited children don’t qualify for an insurance-provided electric wheelchair. That’s why Hargrove started the initiative, hoping to “fill the gap” for children like Emma.
Emma and her mother, Stefanie, stopped by our studio Friday, October 21, to talk about why the gift means so much. Engineers with Hargrove also talked more about the “Hargrove Adaptive Toy” initiative.
Last December, Hargrove Instrumentation Engineer, Michelle Jones, met Emma’s mother during a field trip with her son who shared about her daughter’s special mobility needs. From that moment forward, Michelle became dedicated to using her engineering expertise to assist children with special mobility requirements.
On Thursday evening, the first adaptive toy “EMMA” (Engineered Machine for Mobility and Access), named in honor of Hargrove’s first recipient, was unveiled to the young girl and her family.
According to Hargrove, the adaptive toy EMMAs provide a convenient, accessible pathway for development of the necessary skills to meet the insurance requirements. Studies have shown that the ability to control one’s movement through space has a direct impact on social, cognitive and speech skills. Therefore, providing mobility limited children with access to these adaptive toy EMMAs has the potential for additional life changing impacts. Each EMMA can be customized with headswitches, joysticks and push buttons to accommodate individual needs.
Future recipients of single-function EMMAs will be randomly selected. As of January 1, 2017, physical therapists will have the ability submit applications for potential users.
To learn more about Hargrove Engineers + Constructors, please visit hargrove-epc.com.
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