SPOKANE, Wash. — Whitworth University students unveiled an electronic learning system for a 6-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who starts first grade this week.
Engineering and therapy students worked since spring to create the equipment for Ryken Lancaster. He has cerebral palsy, so school looks different for him.
Ryken gets visits at home from physical and occupational therapists, plus speech, hearing and vision therapists. Before the new system, therapy was difficult.
“Typically we have him on the floor or someone’s holding him at the same time. You’re holding materials in front. Someone has to hold the flashlight and he’s low to the ground so everyone’s kind of crouching around him,” Ryken’s mother Tianna Farnes said.
The new equipment changes how Ryken learns. It allows him to work at different heights and gives him a place for materials.
“This allows him to be up high or down low if he needs to be. And there’s a place for the materials to be placed,” Farnes said. “He gets to be more of an interactive part of therapy.”
The project started when Ryken’s family reached out to Whitworth. They asked if students could create equipment to make schoolwork easier for Ryken. The students created several prototypes and worked with Ryken, his mother and his caregivers.
Student Sierra Witte said meeting Ryken made the project special.
“I didn’t have to keep everyone in mind. I just got to think about Ryken and his family and this specific use. So that was different and super special,” Witte said.
Whitworth professors say the project gave students real-world experience while helping one family. They hope more families will reach out for help creating specialized equipment.
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