One might call Jim Steinke one of the best switch hitters around.
In 1991, some rehabilitation engineers from Stanford University came to Steinke, an electrical contractor, with an idea to build a prototype device that could move children with developmental disabilities in a standing position. The engineers had gotten a federal grant for their project.
“Our company was into electronic units for things like toys and trucks, remote items to go forward and backward, and joy sticks,” Steinke says.
“We were at a show in California and later got interested in working with this other project. We took an aesthetic look at what the engineers had presented and made it look better, added color and made sure all the parts came apart easily so that anybody, even the most clumsy of parents, could use this thing and have no problems. We called it the Go-Bot, and it puts children from about the age of 9 months to 8 years standing (and in other positions) in a remote-controlled device. We’ve fixed it so that either the parent can control the unit or the child can.
Steinke says he “fed” the business for six years. But every time he saw what independence the Go-Bots could give children with disabilities, he kept going.
“There are two things about this you really have to consider and this is what all the therapists tell me. First, standing changes an environment, and it therefore changes thinking patterns, especially when you have a child who only lies down or who only sits.
“And it runs off switches. At Innovative Products, that’s what we knew: switches. Every kid in the world knows a big red switch on a toy, a computer, whatever. That red switch means go, and now these switches not only take these children and let them go, it gives them a whole new outlook. I tell you, there’s no other job like I’ve got.”
Innovative Products also customizes its Go-Bots for height, going up to about 50 inches. While the retail price may seem expensive to many ($4,000-7,000), Steinke says many parents have had luck with insurance payments.
“The average child with a disability will have about three power vehicles in his lifetime, from a stroller all the way up to a chair. We make Go-Bot strollers, but with ours, you can take the seat out and use it at the table. And the Go-Bot breaks apart easier; we especially worked on that. But most of all it gets them standing and moving, and the child can work it himself. There are also so many parts to it which are adjustable to allow for reaching and growth.”
Steinke has an example.
One of the schools that contacted him had a client who wasn’t moving or getting enough exercise. Because of the Go-Bot’s versatile parts, the company moved the switch farther out so the child had to stretch his arms farther to reach it. Not only was this child suddenly moving, but to keep going, he had to keep exercising.
Steinke also uses another term: gate walker. And that’s what Innovative Products is into now: Putting forth the creative devices which allow children the ability to go beyond the gates and barriers that hold them.
“We can even put four wheels on these things so it can be used for someone starting in a flat position. And it’s easy to take apart. We made sure of that. I go to a lot of places and to a lot of centers and schools. Usually, when I come in, they’ll put a child forward where they’re setting you up; that is, they think the Go-Bot will fail.
“I went to Washington, D.C., at one of the schools there. And here comes this one child who was about 3. We put her in the car and you could see she was very scared. So now she’s standing and wondering, what’s next? You saw this little hand reaching for that switch and reaching. And then she moved. She had freedom. Now I tell you what. When you see about 20 therapists all standing around crying, you know they’ve been working with this child for a long time. And here was a child, who, just by hitting that switch could go. It was amazing.”
For more information about the Go-Bot and its many components and models, the address is Innovative Products, 830 S. 48th St., Grand Forks, N.D. 58201.
