Research

This website is part of Varleisha's completion of the Doctorate Program at Thomas Jefferson University

The project uses telerehabilitation (use of computers and webcams) to communicate with families and observe the natural environments. Parents, of five to six children with developmental disabilities, will actively participate in 30 min sessions once a week, in the clinic, for four weeks. Sessions will include parent education, assessment of children, review of family routines, and the development of the parent home program. Parents will then actively participate in weekly, web cam sessions, for four weeks. Sessions will involve review of application of sensory diets, and home therapy program, concerns and successes. The child's behavior in the natural environment will be observed by the therapist.

Telerehabilitation has significant advantages over outpatient rehabilitation alone by promoting higher levels of collaboration and enabling therapists and parents to create and implement tailored programs that will better serve the needs of children with developmental disabilities and their families. Moreover, the telerehabilitaion process, used for the project, will be evaluated to further refine the methodology, enable a clinical trial, and serve to inform the field of an innovative delivery method that may be feasible for intervention with many children who have disabilities.