Technology @ RIKC

Apple iPad and Therapy

Zeke playing Fruit Ninja on the iPad during a recent therapy session.

The Apple iPad is adding a little fun for children and adults with a wide range of deficits in RIKC's Medical Rehabilitation Programs. It is used in both speech and occupational therapy, as well as in our School Transition Services and Adaptive Technology Program. The applications, or apps, used during therapy help patients in a variety of ways: vision, fine motor skills, language, problem solving, memory, and processing are several skills that the games and puzzles target. Some apps are specifically designed for therapy, but others hold a great deal of entertainment value, like Fruit Ninja. This game is a popular app, but it just happens to be a great therapy tool. The object of the game is to slice through the fruit being tossed in the air with your finger while avoiding the bombs. Cathie Devries, an Occupational Therapist, uses the game during therapy to help patients practice skills and tasks like visual scanning, reaction time and impulsiveness. Using an iPad during therapy presents many advantages, including the ability for the iPad to measure an individual's success throughout a game or puzzle. This gives therapists a way to track improvements in their patients over time. The iPad technology is a great addition to our therapy services and the patients (especially kids) find it "cool" to use!

Invisible Wounds: PTSD

Written by Jeremy Stevenson, Psy.D., Clinical Psychologist, Rehabilitation Institute of Kansas City  

Dr. Jeremy Stevenson

Although unfortunate, the physical effects of auto accidents, strokes, and spinal cord injuries are obvious. Each day our staff supports determined patients as they labor to overcome the limitations of their various physical disabilities. Somewhat less apparent is the psychological effect of these traumas, but it can be just as significant to an individual's functioning.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is the formal name of the psychiatric disorder that is used to characterize individuals who are especially traumatized after exposure to, or involvement in, a life and death event. When you think about PTSD you may think about combat and sexual assault. In fact, these events are most likely to produce the symptoms characteristic of PTSD. These symptoms include  

1) recurrent, distressing memories of the event, 2) efforts to avoid memories or reminders of the event, and 3) persistent hyper-arousal. One of my patients described hyper-arousal as being "locked and loaded" all the time. PTSD is an anxiety disorder, and hyper-arousal could be thought of as an emotional and physical response to threat, which is similar to long-term, excessive anxiety. Obviously, this already high level of anxiety increases when anything in the person (their thoughts or feelings), or their environment, triggers memories of the event.

However, not all individuals who witness or are involved in an event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury develop PTSD. There is debate about why this is. We do know individuals are more likely to develop PTSD if they are younger, a woman, lack social support, have other mental health issues, or have experienced an earlier life threatening event or trauma. For those individual who do develop PTSD, it might be helpful to think in terms of recovery versus being cured. The memories of the event don't go away, but mental health providers can work with the individual to process, or think about, the traumatic event differently. The Neuropsychology and Family Services Department is available to provide individual and group psychotherapy for a range of psychological issues, including PTSD. If you are not a patient of RIKC and you recognize these symptoms in yourself or a significant other, inform your physician. Invisible wounds are real and need to be treated too.  

New Look.  Same Great Services.