ALTON, IL -- The iPad is now considered one of the most useful tools in speech therapy. Thanks to the generosity of the Alton Memorial Health Services Foundation’s Mary Alice McCarthy Fund, speech and occupational therapists at Alton Memorial Hospital now have two iPads to use in pediatric therapy sessions.
“On behalf of our occupational and speech therapists, I want to thank the Foundation for our two new iPads purchased through the Mary Alice McCarthy Fund,” said Sue Walker, manager of the Human Motion Institute at AMH. “For the last year, JoEllen Corona (speech therapist) has used her personal iPad during pediatric speech therapy sessions. It has proven effective, so Laura Vinyard and Danielle Sears also use it to treat their patients.”
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For speech therapy, iPad apps address articulation (the way sounds are formed and produced), pragmatic skills (social language), syntax (grammar) and comprehension.
“Since the Foundation has generously donated two iPads, our occupational therapists can now utilize the second iPad with apps to address handwriting, fine motor skills, coordination, social skills and behavior,” Walker said. “Our pediatric patients work very hard and we are very proud of them. Our children are diagnosed with autism, Down syndrome, developmental delay, head injuries, sensory processing disorders, cerebral palsy and cognitive deficits, to name a few.”
Utilization of the iPad is supported by the American Speech Language and Hearing Association (ASHA), as well as the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA).
In 2012, speech and occupational therapists at AMH had dozens of children on the caseload, with many children funded through the Mary Alice McCarthy Fund. “We look for good things in 2013 from our pediatric patients as our therapists continue their interventions utilizing our new Mary Alice iPads,” Walker said
The Mary Alice McCarthy Fund was established at Alton Memorial Hospital in 1951. McCarthy was a local school teacher who left a portion of her estate to assist children stricken with polio. While the polio epidemic is long past, childhood health needs continue.
“We thank the Foundation for their continual support of the children in our community,” Walker said.
Laura Vinyard, a speech language pathologist at Alton Memorial Hospital, works with 4-year-old Jay Robeen on an iPad purchased through the Alton Memorial Health Services Foundation’s Mary Alice McCarthy Fund.
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