When you have a child who is physcially challenged you know that equipment is expensive, thus parents often find a need to be creative in adapting ordinary toys to suit thier children's needs.

Audra had cerebral palsy, spastic, quadraplegia. She could not sit unsupported, had little use of her hands and legs and poor head control.

Audra's car was one of our first and most successful adaptions.

We purchased a rugged battery powered ride-on toy Jeep. The seat was low in the Jeep with the control in the middle.

We bought an old car seat at the Thrift Store and cut it in half, using the upper part as a back rest, this my husband bolted securly onto the Jeep. We then added a strap to secure Audra around the chest, no strap was needed around her waist as the Jeep was made so that it would hold her in. Next my husband added a soft somewhat pliable pipe that fit over the joystick to extend it and make it taller, then he reversed the entire joystick and control panel so that instead of having to push the stick to go forward Audra could use her limited hand and arm motion to get her arm around the joy stick and pull it backwards thus propelling herself forward.

Obviously this was a toy that had to be used with much supervision, but she was able to move it forward and at times to turn it left or right.

It gave Audra a bit of mobility at a very young age and she enjoyed it immensley until she outgrew it. It also was a lot less expensive then buying a "custom made" car. At that time no company sold anything adapted like this, still if you compare the cost of a new "car with adaptions" and making one yourself, you may find the cost well worth it.