UNE students present adaptive bikes to children with disabilities and their families during Family Interprofessional Team sessions

This winter, trainees from the Maine Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) program at the University of New England presented adaptive bicycles called Ambucs trykes to several local children and their families. 

The Maine LEND program is a federally funded project providing interprofessional training to health care providers, including graduate and doctoral students at UNE, with a focus on providing inclusive access to outdoor fun for individuals with disabilities.

LEND’s Family Interprofessional Team (FIT) program is facilitated by a team of trainees and UNE faculty from occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech language pathology, social work, public health, nursing, special education, and psychology. The FIT program’s goal is to provide family-centered, best-practice consultation to families with children who have autism spectrum disorder and other neurodevelopmental disabilities, such as cerebral palsy. In addition to providing evaluations and consultations for the children and families, the FIT program offers an ideal learning experience for Maine LEND trainees.

Recently, the needs of several children were assessed by LEND trainees who worked with members of the Maine Trykers, a nonprofit, therapeutic bicycle program at UNE led by occupational and physical therapists that provides adaptive bicycles for children and adults with disabilities. All the adaptive bicycles provided by the Maine Trykers came to the program through donations.

Children with complicated needs, those from underserved areas and socioeconomic groups, and those from underrepresented ethnic and racial groups were given preference in the program.

First, children were measured for proper fitting, and the family’s lifestyle and daily activities were explored in depth as part of the comprehensive training. Once the trykes were ordered and received, trainees then came together with the children and families to create a festive and celebratory bike day that included balloons, music, and a joyful “bike parade” as children rode their new trykes through tunnels of trainees, faculty, and family members.