There are 'measurable benefits' to using VR to practice skills

As virtual reality adoption grows amongst educators, clinicians, and families, people are taking notice of the skill acquisition that is possible with practice in a VR setting. Meta's Nick Clegg noted that VR is transforming education and researchers have found benefits in recent studies as well. Research from The University of Vermont that was presented at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting in April was promising: "the results showed significant positive benefits of virtual reality on conversational spontaneity, social appraisal, emotional recognition, anxiety and fear reduction, and social-skill acquisition." Floreo's Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Gregory Downing wrote a synopsis of the research findings which you can read by clicking the button below.

Events

ASU+GSV PANEL

Along with Labster Founder & CEO Michael Jensen, Inspirit VR CEO Aditya Vishwanath, Zoe Immersive CEO Emilie Joly, Dreamscape Learn CEO Josh Reibel, and Meta VP & Deputy Chief Privacy Officer of Policy Rob Sherman Floreo's Vijay Ravindran spoke on a panel at ASU+GSV exploring the use of XR in the classroom to facilitate immersive learning and improved outcomes.

In case you missed it...

SPOTLIGHT ON FITNESS FOR HEALTH

Fitness for Health offers occupational and physical therapy at their cutting-edge facility in Rockville Maryland and they have been using Floreo with their clients for over 2 years. Founder Marc Sickel recently shared more on Fitness for Health's history. Inspired by his own childhood experiences, Marc founded Fitness for Health 38 years ago to help children, young adults, and adults who "struggle with similar or other challenges" that he faced. Marc believes that it is "so important that kids learn and have the tools that they need to make good friends, and this is where Floreo comes in!"

If you are interested in being featured as part of our Spotlight series, please reply to this email or click the button below. You don't have to be local to DC to participate! We can't wait to share more about the amazing work our customers are doing.

New Partnerships

THE FLOREO COMMUNITY CONTINUES TO GROW

A warm welcome to our newest partners at Grant County Special Education Cooperative (IN), New Vista School (CA) and Vantage Career Center (OH). just signed up to begin their Floreo programs. We look forward to helping you serve the needs of your students, clients, and communities!

Are you ready to join the Floreo family? We would love to discuss implementation in your school, district, or practice!

Exciting opportunity for educators

FLOREO IMMERSIVE LEARNING PROGRAM

We are thrilled to announce the Floreo Immersive Learning Program, a unique opportunity for schools to bring Floreo to neurodiverse students.

In collaboration with Meta, the program is for neurodiverse students ages 13 and above and includes free Meta Quest 2 headsets for schools. In addition, we are providing a Floreo Classroom Bundle for the low setup cost of only $500 through the 2023/2024 school year for participating schools. And we’re so excited that 30+ school districts have already taken advantage of this program.

Please share with your favorite educators and schools, including in-school service providers. We are so excited to help get more technology into the hands of very deserving schools. There is a short application process and schools interested in learning more can visit the link below.

In case you missed it...

NEW CPT III CODE FOR CLINICS IS LIVE

Last summer, Floreo sponsored the application for a new CPT III Code that went into effect January 1, 2023. Code 0770T is an add-on code that represents the practice expense for the software used for the VR technology and may be reported for each session for which VR technology is used. VR technology is incorporated into the base therapy session and is used to enhance the training or teaching of a skill upon which the therapy is focused.

If you are interested in incorporating this CPT III code into your practice's billing procedure, please let us know. We have some tips for outreach to your payers that may be helpful for you.

Events

MEET THE FLOREO TEAM

If you are attending any upcoming events, let us know, we would love to set up time to meet with you!

May 27 - 29 at ABAI Denver

Funding Ideas

HOW CAN WE HELP YOU GAIN FUNDING FOR FLOREO?
We know that budgets can be tight and we want to help get Floreo into the hands of anyone who needs it! Please let us know if you need help writing up your DonorsChoose application or with information for a grant you have identified.

IDEA and Title I funds are also great sources to help you access a Floreo subscription. As you start thinking about budgets for 2023-24, consider adding in Floreo!

What have we been reading this week?

NEWS ROUND-UP

When autism isn't diagnosed until adulthood: 'It takes a mental crisis to get diagnosed'
More research needed on autism and gender'
It is definitely a necessity': Fight for access to telehealth for autism services in rural Nebraska
Early identification crucial in autism outcomes
Why autism spectrum disorder is sometimes mistakenly misdiagnosed

Heather

Heather is Floreo's Director of Customer Success. She makes sure that all of Floreo's customers are comfortable and confident using Floreo. Prior to working at Floreo, Heather worked at Trove (a news start-up) and eBay for Charity. Heather holds an A.B. from Dartmouth College, where she also played varsity basketball (and won an Ivy League Championship) and a M.Ed. from the University of Mary Washington. In her free time she enjoys reading, tennis, skiing, and hiking around Western North Carolina with her husband, two sons, and adorable lab mix, Pepper.