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UCF creates motorized cars to help children with disabilities move

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — While most people learn how to walk as babies, it's much more of a challenge for children with disabilities.

University of Central Florida helped launch a program, Go Baby Go, that creates motorized cars to help the children get around.

Vance Howell's two-year-old grandson has cerebral palsy, and can't use his hands or legs to hold himself up and get around. Howell said the device has made a big difference for his grandson.

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"He's got mobility now. Before he had this car, we had to push him everywhere. And now he can go where he wants to go,” Howell told Eyewitness News.

Cerebral palsy is the most common motor disability in children. About one in 323 children have been identified with some type of cerebral palsy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Go Baby Go program takes a battery-operated car that anyone can buy online or at a toy store, rewire it and move the car with a push of a button.

"This initiative is really about taking things that are readily available and transforming them into something for a child with a disability,” said Dr. Jennifer Tucker, Director, UCF Go Baby Go.

Tucker, a pediatric therapist, kicked off the program at UCF last year, but it's a nationwide initiative to get kids with disabilities, moving.

“That moment when that child hits the switch and they understand that they have the ability to control their world, to see their face light up, you can't capture that. That can only be experienced,” Tucker said.

Tucker said the car not only allows children to move, but allows them to socialize and build confidence.

Howell told us he's already seen a difference in his grandson.

"It's just an expression of joy,” Howell said.

Go Baby Go runs off grants, sponsorships, and donations.