Most days, you can find the 9-year-old sprawled on the floor playing video games with his older brother, Thomas. Timothy has dreams of becoming a movie director, and if that doesn’t work out, he wants to attend a college just for aspiring baseball players. He likes watching Carolina Hurricanes hockey games, snacking on cupcakes after school and giving hugs to his parents, Jane and Ken Allen.

For the most part, Timothy is just like his classmates at South Smithfield Elementary School, but one thing sets him apart from the other fourth-graders. Timothy has spina bifida, a birth defect that causes the spinal cord not to develop completely. Timothy usually walks with leg braces or crutches. Sometimes, his speech is a bit slurred, although that doesn’t stop him from talking.

“One of the first times I let him walk with me was when we were going through a store,” Jane Allen recalled. “He was probably 4 or 5 years old. He stopped every person who went by, introduced himself, told them why we were there, what we were going to buy and everything. It took us about an hour just to get from the door to where we were going. I’ve always said he was practicing to be a politician, shaking hands with everybody in the room.”

Last spring, Timothy joined the Miracle League, a nonprofit group that gives children with disabilities the chance to play baseball. Parents and other spectators cheer as an announcer calls out each player’s nickname.

Timothy, known as Lightening Speed, is paired with a buddy at each game. The buddies help players swing the bat, run the bases and give them encouragement.

“I don’t think he realizes his disability,” Mrs. Allen said of her son. “In his mind, he is playing just as hard as the other kids in his school. I assume one day we will have to deal with the ‘Why me?’ but in his mind, he runs the bases as fast as a professional athlete.”

In the fall and spring, the Allens drive 45 minutes to play Miracle League games in Cary on Saturdays. But they are hoping to cut their drive short. Earlier this month, Tim Johnson, director of Smithfield Parks and Recreation, and Monty McLamb, a Miracle League representative, told town councilmen that a request would come before them soon. Parks and Recreation wants to partner with the town to start a Miracle League in Smithfield.

“The more you learn about it, hopefully, we will all agree that this would be great for Smithfield to be a leader in the community and the county by striving to provide recreation for all children, special-needs kids as well as mainstream kids,” Johnson told the Town Council.

Ideally, Parks and Recreation would like to build a Miracle League field in Community Park. He estimated the cost at $400,000 for the field, a parking lot, benches, bleachers and restrooms.

Johnson hopes local businesses will offer their help to keep costs down. “We feel like it is hard to ask people for donations or to do work if you don’t know where it is going to be located,” he said. “Once we get the location down and say this is where it’s going to be, it is just going to be more substantial and people are going to be more sure it will happen.”

Johnston County has more than 4,800 children with special needs. Some of the Miracle League players in Cary have conditions far more severe than Timothy’s. Other parents drive farther than the Allens. But the parents all have the same common goal. They want their children to have the same chances as other kids. They want their children to laugh, play and dream big.

“Tim’s chance for a relatively normal life is fairly high, so for him to have this opportunity is a good thing for him,” Mrs. Allen said. “Some families bring kids to the Miracle League who are not able to participate in activities at school. They are severely disabled. For them to have the opportunity to play baseball ... the Miracle League makes that happen.”