While most people have returned to in-person therapy sessions, telehealth remains a viable and important option for families who live remotely or those who have some other barrier to traveling to a clinic or office. With Floreo being telehealth-ready, the therapist can bring the learning environment to the Learner, instead of the other way around. We call it "TeleVR."

The Basics: The Learner needs the VR device (in this case, an iPhone and VR headset) in their location. The Coach needs the iPad in their location. The 2 devices can connect over WiFi to run a Floreo session. A video conference is set up between the Learner and the Coach so that the Coach can see and hear how the Learner is responding and move the lesson forward accordingly. 

Prior to the first session, the Coach will need to set up a "Guide" account in the Floreo portal. The Guide would be a parent, guardian, or care worker who would be in the same location as the Learner. (When logged into the portal, select the Learner, and scroll down to find the orange "Assign TeleVR" button. Then, follow the instructions.) The Guide will help to ensure the Learner stays safe while in VR and may be needed to assist in set-up, perhaps starting the video conference or troubleshooting technical issues.

Food for Thought: 

• Consider how much of the Learner you need to see during your session. For example, if you are working on gestures, make sure the video call captures the Learner's hands. Also, you might want to be observing other body language that communicates a message.  
• Consider sound. If the Learner turns away from the camera or microphone, sometimes it can be hard for the Coach to hear. You can set up the start of the session so that the Learner will be facing the camera when the "action" starts. If the video conference is being run on a laptop or some other mobile device, the Coach can ask the Guide to move the laptop in front of the Learner for better audio.
• Send a reminder note to the family several hours or a day prior to each TeleVR session, reminding someone in the home to make sure the iPhone has a full battery charge and that it is running the same (updated) version of Floreo that the Coach will be using. 
• Let the Guide know what to expect support during the session. Let the Guide know that you may need their help during the session.
• Start with lessons that are easy for the Learner to accomplish to help build self-confidence and motivation.  
• Use pre-teaching activities prior to putting on the headset to introduce the VR lesson (stay tuned for more ideas on this). As always, take breaks between the lessons to help process the VR event with the Learner. 
• At the end of the session, you might use the "Two glows and a grow" approach. Tell the Learner two responses/actions they did well, and one response or action they could improve upon for next time.  

At the end of the session, follow up with an email reminding the family to force quit the Floreo app, so each Floreo session can be "started fresh." Send us feedback with any tips, tricks and/or troubles you have had using TeleVR!