Christmas for Lily Kaelin will be extra special. Under the tree, the 2-year-old will find a cotton candy-pink rocking horse and, despite her physical disabilities, she’ll be able to ride it to her heart’s content.

The rocking horse will be equipped with special foot straps to hold her feet in place, and a harness and back block to keep her secure while she rocks. It also has hand splints so she can hold on to the horse.

Without all the modifications, the rocking horse would be useless to Lily, who suffers from Rett syndrome, a neurological disorder.

Lily’s mother, Jackie Kaelin, said she felt blessed.

“The rocking horse will be a therapeutic thing for her to help her strengthen her core and improve her balance,” Kaelin said.

The modified rocking horse is just one example of the hundreds of modified toys and other everyday items produced by the Smile Factory each year, part of the Assistive Technology Program at MultiCare Good Samaritan’s Children’s Therapy Unit

The Assistive Technology Program got its start in 1991. It was the invention of assistive technology specialist Steve Shores and Linda Yates, the former director of the Children’s Therapy Unit.

“There is just nothing like this around in Washington,” Shores said. “Linda Yates started the (Children’s) therapy unit 45 years ago. She knew the value of adaptive equipment. I give credit to the administration to allow us to be creative.”

For several years in the early stages of the program, Shores worked from a small closet in the hallway, where he modified items to give children more freedom and independence. In 1994, Don Marlatte was hired as the assistive technology technician, and for the past 17 years, he has churned out miracle after miracle.

“The whole core of what I do is bringing out the possibilities in the child and making them smile,” Marlatte said. “I’m not making stuff, I’m making smiles, and that’s what keeps me going.”

Throughout the year, Shores works with occupational, physical and speech therapists to identify how a particular item in a child’s environment can be adjusted appropriately to help them gain more independence and self-esteem. Items vary from computers, beds, music instruments and many different toys.

Marlatte said the weeks prior to Christmas are his busiest. Toys like Lily’s rocking horse and others, like tricycles that need foot adjustments, come in. The modifications not only allow children the freedom to play, they also help children practice physical, speech and cognitive therapies and help them graduate to the next level of their development, Shores said.

“Play for kids is their physical therapy,” Shores said. “That’s how you motivate kids. Toys are the hub of what we do.”

Modifications to toys and other household items are provided for free. Marlatte uses equipment and other financial resources that have been donated through the Good Samaritan Foundation.

Recently, Shores’ expertise has been requested by other medical professionals in Eastern Washington. And in the past several years, the Good Samaritan’s Children’s Therapy Unit has integrated its services with Mary Bridge’s outpatient children’s therapy clinic in Tacoma.

Kaelin said the help the Children’s Therapy Unit has provided is appreciated.

“They’re so informative,” she said. “They’ve helped us with a lot of different equipment and have taught us how to modify items like toys. They’ve taught us how to exercise (Lily) to get her muscles strong.”

Children’s therapy Unit

Each year, donations help fill a gap of about $700,000 in unmet needs in the Children’s Therapy Unit at the non-profit MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, said Barb Herbert, administrator for the Good Samaritan Foundation.

Founded in 1966, the CTU is the oldest and largest hospital-based neuro-development center in Washington. The internationally renowned therapy center helps infants, children and adolescents who have special needs to become as functional as possible.

CTU annually serves about 1,200 children and provides more than 30,750 hours of treatment. To make a donation, call 253-697-5090 or visit www.goodsamfoundation.org.

Reach Puyallup reporter Andrew Fickes at 253-841-2481 Ext. 313 or email at andrew.fickes@puyallupherald.com.