5-year-old who has cerebral palsy can ride in remote-controlled car, thanks to young Coeur d’Alene inventors

A dozen home-schooled students in Coeur d’Alene have been recognized for their work in modifying a child-sized remote-controlled car for 5-year-old Barrett Limtiaco-Ruppel, who has cerebral palsy.

The home-schoolers, who range in age from 8 to 13, have been participating in a “Let’s Science It” class through Gizmo, a nonprofit collaborative workspace, for the past seven weeks. It was recently announced that they were selected as runners-up – fourth place – among the 10,000 entries considered for the Inventor’s Challenge put on by the Imagination Foundation and AT&T.

But for Limtiaco-Ruppel, honors and awards were a secondary consideration Wednesday. His face broke into a wide grin as he was lifted into the car and strapped into place. His grin got even bigger as the students used the remote control to drive him slowly around the room.

The car has been modified to allow Limtiaco-Ruppel to drive forward by sitting up straight and pushing his head back. Straps covered with magnets are attached to his hands to help him hold on to the steering bar.

“The idea was to build a car that will make him strong,” said Barb Mueller, Gizmo’s executive director.

Limtiaco-Ruppel isn’t strong enough yet to use the car himself, though he was trying.

“That’s the goal, is to use this as an incentive,” Mueller said.

Carl Gipson, director of Washington AT&T External Affairs, was there to hand out certificates and “swag bags” to the students Wednesday. The competition is designed to recognize science, technology, engineering and math projects. The home-school group stood out because of what their project does for others, he said.

“Having that compassionate, empathetic aspect is really important to us,” Gipson said.

Mueller said she thinks the group of students benefited from having a variety of ages. It also allowed the older students to mentor younger ones, she said.

“They come to the project in a lot of different ways,” she said.

The students didn’t just modify the car so Limtiaco-Ruppel could control it – they also tricked out its body with Star Wars decals. When the wiring is finished, the car will play the Star Wars theme song and other sounds.

“It’s the one thing he loves,” his mother, Janai Limtiaco, said of Star Wars.

Limtiaco watched as her son motored around the room. “It’s awesome,” she said. “The kids have literally given us everything we could ask for.”

Limtiaco-Ruppel didn’t say a word Wednesday, but he didn’t have to. Everyone knew how he felt.

“It’s one of the best feelings people get, I think, helping other people,” said 13-year-old Jonathan Stowe. He helped make the electrical modifications to the car and said he’d like to be a mechanical engineer when he grows up.

“Any kind of engineer, really,” Stowe said.

Levi Bird, 12, worked on installing the seat and said it was fun to build something. “I think it’s pretty interesting,” he said.

He’s already looking forward to the group’s next project, a prosthetic foot for a small dog named Candy who is missing a back paw.

“They already made her an artificial foot for her, but it’s not comfy,” he said.

The one they make, he said, should be plenty comfy.