TinyEYE Blog

Online Occupational Therapy:  How Does it Work?

Raise your hand if your heart warms and stretches when you know you have improved a child's life.  What a joyful purpose to serve.  

Therapists are self-driven to influence the quality of children’s lives.  Because we advocate for communities that do not have equal access to quality therapy services, speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists around the world have joined our online therapy team so that they can experience the joy that grows from improving the life of a child.  What is the point of online occupational therapy and how does it work?

The desire to be able to see others while talking to them on the phone has been around as long as the phone itself. The first attempts at videoconferencing appeared to be something  only the most wealthy could access. In 1961, Picturephone by AT&T was launched It cost $160/month, and $6/minute per call, and sent black and white pictures back and forth every 2 seconds.

In 2005, video communication had become more popular and affordable. Most people had dial-up internet at minimum, and MSN Messenger and other video conferencing tools were becoming more popular. However, reliability was far from guaranteed. It was around the same time that TinyEYE was established, integrating the video technology available at the time with additional programming and support, and adding in the capability for a third-party to monitor a video stream and adjust the settings to ensure reliability.

All over North America there are schools where students are not receiving the speech and occupational therapy services they need. The majority of these cases are simply because the school faces recruitment shortages and has been trying to hire a speech pathologist or occupational therapist for years. This is often simply a question of social or geographic concerns.

In the past 9 years since TinyEYE software began development, technology has grown exponentially. People are connected in ways that they never were before. One of those ways is that therapists from everywhere are able to log in and provide therapy to students all over the world. Students who were struggling to communicate and became hopeless and withdrawn are laughing and speaking in ways that they never before could. 9 years later, these schools faced the same recruitment challenges, but they found TinyEYE, and began working with us to provide SLP and OT services and change their student’s lives.

“It is not about the technology; it’s about sharing knowledge and information, communicating efficiently, building learning communities and creating a culture of professionalism in schools. These are the key responsibilities of all educational leaders”. – Marion Ginapolis

Implementing a new technological tool or service within a classroom setting can become a waste of money if it isn’t done right. To implement new technology, schools must consider carefully the cost of bringing in that technology, the potential gains that the technology can bring, and the anticipated reactions not only of the members of the school, but also from each child and his or her parents.

At one point online speech or occupational therapy was an act of science fiction, grouped together with teleportation, hover cars, and molecular food generators. TinyEYE Therapy Services began developing the software to deliver speech therapy online in 2005, and started therapy services in 2007. At the time, it was unheard of and looked upon with skepticism. Online therapy is now considered a valid service offering with proven effectiveness.