Can Adding an iPad® to Therapy Increase Your Patient's Cooperation?

Person Holding White Ipad With White Case

Love 'em or hate 'em, iPads® are everywhere, and the younger generations have fully embraced the technology. If you're a parent, you know how hard it can be to get the technology out of a child's hands. As groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics stress to limit screen time for children, you have to ask: Is using an iPad in therapy interventions a benefit to your patient?

When you think beyond apps, games, and streaming video, the answer is yes.

Before integrating an iPad into a patient's therapy routine, it's important to first consider the social, physical, and cultural environments of your patient. Next, evaluate what the patient needs, what the environment supports, and match specific tools to their individual treatment plan. An iPad may be a great tool, but pencil and paper, a computer, or manipulatives might work better for the student for reasons as individual as the student themselves.

Lorelei Woerner-Eisner, OTR/L, suggests asking yourself these questions before using an iPad with a patient.

  • What are the goals for iPad implementation?
  • How successful has therapy been prior to iPad implementation?
  • What therapeutic problems does the iPad solve?
  • What can the iPad do that's not possible without it?
  • What is the role of the patient in iPad use?
  • How can we make the application of the iPad in the therapy setting more organic and fluid?

Not sure how you would integrate an iPad in a therapy session? Here are two unique ways that go beyond the apps.


Certification in Primitive Reflex Integration
Certification in Primitive Reflex Integration

In this in-depth certification course, you'll get the best of both worlds…the convenience of online, self-paced learning, plus LIVE ONE-ON-ONE CONSULTATION with primitive reflex expert Karen Pryor, PhD, PT, DPT, CH, CFPS.

Manual Lymph Drainage Certification Course
Manual Lymph Drainage Certification Course

Whether you're a new therapist or seasoned practitioner, this must have certification course will provide valuable insight for incorporating MLD in the clinical setting. You’ll walk away with strategies that you can implement immediately!

Certified Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Specialist Intensive Training (ASDCS) - 2nd Edition
Certified Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Specialist Intensive Training (ASDCS) - 2nd Edition

During this powerful online certification course, leading experts including Stephen Porges, Barry Prizant, Varleisha Lyons, Robert Naseef, Jeffrey Guenzel, and Michael Hannon—to name a few—will guide you through interventions that leverage relationships, trust, communication, acceptance, and the neuroception of safety.

Lorelei Woerner-Eisner OTR/L, SIPT, C-IAYT

Lorelei Woerner- Eisner, OTR/L, SIPT, C-IAYT, a registered and licensed Occupational Therapist, Certified Yoga Therapist and a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher has over 20 years of practice in working with infants to seniors from a whole-person perspective. Lorelei is a recognized international lecturer and author. She has spoken across the country on a wide variety of topics related to therapy from a holistic perspective. Throughout her career, she has been driven by a passion to research, discover and create the most highly effective therapy techniques and tools to support lasting change with her broad range of clients’ needs. She has worked in pediatrics/sensory integration, rehabilitation, psychiatrics, acute care, home health, and skilled nursing settings. Lorelei is certified in: the Sensory Integration and Praxis Test, Yoga Therapy, Yoga Ed sm (a school-based yoga program), Hippotherapy, and Myofascial Release. She and her specially trained therapy dog Toma, work in a variety of settings including her private practice, Integrative Wellness Therapy. Born and raised in the Los Angeles area, Lorelei received a B.A. in Occupational Therapy from USC in 1993, a B.A. in Communications from Pepperdine University in 1986 and her 2-year Yoga Therapy certificate from Loyola Marymount University in 2007.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Lorelei Woerner-Eisner is the founder of Integrative Wellness Therapy and has an employment relationship with Maritime. She receives compensation as a Independent Occupational Therapist and presenter. Lorelei Woerner-Eisner receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Lorelei Woerner-Eisner has no relevant non-financial relationships.
Let's Stay in Touch

Get exclusive discounts, new training announcements & more!

You May Also Be Interested In These Related Blog Posts
1978 20210922 034652 Rh Blog Mld Mobile
Manual Lymph Drainage for Edema Reduction
Manual lymph drainage (MLD) is a time-tested, non-invasive treatment that’s gentle for both the patient and the practitioner. In a video demonstration, see the transformative impact it made on a 99...
1669 20190917 111457 Foodexploringmobile
Food Refusal? Try Food Exploring!
Angela Mansolillo, MA/CCC-SLP, BCS-S, offers helpful tips for feeding therapists and their clients.
Fire Matches On Colored Background
Practical Burnout-Prevention Tools for Therapists and Supervisors
Burnout is one of the greatest challenges facing clinicians today. Learn how supervisors and therapists can recognize early signs of burnout, use supervision as a protective factor, integrate micro...
Hands Breaking Free From Handcuffs Against A Blue Sky
How To Harness the Power of Values and Help Your Clients Speak Up When It Matters
Dr. Danielle N. Moyer shares clinical strategies for using values-based interventions to empower clients to communicate authentically, overcome avoidance, and build meaningful connections.
1978 20210922 034652 Rh Blog Mld Mobile
Manual Lymph Drainage for Edema Reduction
Manual lymph drainage (MLD) is a time-tested, non-invasive treatment that’s gentle for both the patient and the practitioner. In a video demonstration, see the transformative impact it made on a 99...
1669 20190917 111457 Foodexploringmobile
Food Refusal? Try Food Exploring!
Angela Mansolillo, MA/CCC-SLP, BCS-S, offers helpful tips for feeding therapists and their clients.
Fire Matches On Colored Background
Practical Burnout-Prevention Tools for Therapists and Supervisors
Burnout is one of the greatest challenges facing clinicians today. Learn how supervisors and therapists can recognize early signs of burnout, use supervision as a protective factor, integrate micro...
Hands Breaking Free From Handcuffs Against A Blue Sky
How To Harness the Power of Values and Help Your Clients Speak Up When It Matters
Dr. Danielle N. Moyer shares clinical strategies for using values-based interventions to empower clients to communicate authentically, overcome avoidance, and build meaningful connections.