PresenceLearning Democratizes Access to Special Education-Related Services With Vonage

PresenceLearning provides access to a network of nearly 800 licensed clinical professionals who work face-to-face with students via secure, live, online video sessions. The PresenceLearning online therapy environment includes a vast library of activities for speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, and behavioral and mental health services, as well as tools for tracking student progress toward their Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals. PresenceLearning clinicians have provided over 1 million therapy sessions to pre-K12 students nationwide.

Delivering High-Quality Therapy

PresenceLearning delivers high quality therapy sessions to students of all ages and abilities across the country in a wide variety of school and home settings. They wanted to make the best use of precious (and valuable) time with qualified clinical professionals, while still offering a personalized service to students in need.

However, to deliver therapy at scale, the company needed secure and reliable video conferencing technology that would work well even in settings with lower bandwidth. This was a particular challenge for many rural school districts that rely on teletherapy to serve their students with special needs. Without teletherapy, those students would not be able to receive the critical support they need to succeed in school due to a scarcity of qualified clinical professionals nationwide.

But with PresenceLearning and Vonage, these same children have access to qualified medical professionals through the power of live video embedded in the PresenceLearning online therapy environment. Clinicians also benefit from teletherapy by working from home, managing their own schedules, and eliminating drive time between schools and districts that can be hundreds of miles apart.

How PresenceLearning Is Using Vonage to Help Students With Special Needs Succeed

By integrating the Vonage platform’s interoperable web and mobile SDKs into its online therapy environment, PresenceLearning enables the credentialed professionals in its network to deliver services anywhere in the world that has high-speed internet, a webcam and microphone. Measurement tracking is built into the system so professional clinicians can keep track of progress each time they meet with a student. And because clinicians have access to tens of thousands of worksheets, games, and activities in the platform, they can deliver highly customized therapy based on a student’s age, goals, interests and academic work.

Thanks to the flexibility of the Vonage Video API, the clinicians can have interactive real-time discussions with students, who receive valuable, individual feedback and interventions, ensuring make progress on their goals as effectively as they would with an onsite SLP, OT, or mental health professional. Students are motivated by the interactive technology, and may also feel less of the stigma associated with being pulled from class to receive therapy — and consistency and engagement lead to better outcomes.

Delivering Award-Winning Student Services

• PresenceLearning has delivered more than one million successful sessions of online therapy to more than 20,000 students throughout the U.S.
• Approximately 3,000 PresenceLearning teletherapy sessions take place each school day.
• Clinical professionals are able to devote more time to providing therapy, as they don’t waste time physically moving between schools.
• Districts are able to save on costs associated with travel time, hiring, and retaining clinical staff.
• Districts are able to more efficiently assess students for special education and exit them when they achieve their goals, meaning that students who need services the most are receiving them.
• PresenceLearning has won numerous industry awards including edtech digest’s Cool Tool and Trendsetter awards, Tech & Learning’s Award of Excellence, BESSIE Awards, and was a CODiE award finalist.

"Having the PresenceLearning therapists and our onsite therapists discuss problem-solving strategies and share best practices together has created a really cohesive relationship and has been a real benefit to our team as a whole. Together, we are able to really help our students meet their goals."

Jessica Starkweather, District champion for Moses Lake School District