Photo by Max Jiang
KU Engineering Students Reimagine Bumper Scooter to Create New Opportunities for Toddler with Disabilities by Joel Mathis
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he first two years of life have been challenging for Amira Payne and her family. The Topeka toddler has severe scoliosis and a condition known as Smith-Magenis syndrome, which has delayed her development and left her with low muscle tone, making it difficult to stand and walk. So when a group of KU engineering students spent their senior year in 2020– 2021 designing and building renovations to a toddler bumper car with special features to help Amira move around on her own, her mother was overwhelmed. “All the emotions,” Peggy Payne said in May 2021, after the students presented the new device to Amira. “Excited for her, that she literally gets to zoom through everything now. Sad that she has to go through all these steps, but also so happy that she has all these people that are rooting for her.”
24 | FALL 2021