iPad therapy helping toddler recovering from cancer

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) - Technology is reshaping how doctors and physical therapist rehab kids with autism, chronic conditions, athletic and trauma injuries. 

Cole Dennis is almost 3 years old and has the spirit and focus no one could ever challenge.  It’s taken him months of therapy to get to this point.

"It's been very interesting with him you know we've had our ups and downs and it's just amazing how strong his personality is and how much he preservers,” said his mother, Christy Dennis. “ You cant help but have admiration for that, because  I know I’ve wanted to throw up my hands sometimes and throw in the towel."

When Cole was 15 months old he came down with a fever.  His parents noticed he started having tremors, ataxia, lacked coordination and started falling over.

"I kept feeling like I was in a movie you know when you watch those movies and you pray that's never going to be you sure enough there we were in that chair,” said Dennis.

Doctors discovered her son had a rare neurological cancer called Neuroblastoma.   They were able to remove the tumor but there was still another hill to climb.

"The brain is like a muscle if we just train it work hard and are persistent we can over come this so it went from panic to despair to hope."

With the help of the iPad, Cole works on his cognitive and motor skills along with speech therapy.

"It's the language that they know, technology and if we're not able to meet up with that language with them then we're not able to communicate the same way with these kids,” explained his physical therapist Kathryn Cummings.

She brings in her personal iPad for Cole to every session.  Right now Seton’s Pediatric Rehabilitation Clinics don’t have enough money to buy iPads.

Christy said she's thankful the therapists take that extra step which has given her son hope. 

"I have a lot to be grateful for and the best part of it all is I haven't felt alone because I've had  a team behind us from the doctors from the therapist to everybody,” said Dennis.

“Our challenge is because we are providing for so many children we don’t have a lot of budget to purchase the iPads as well as some of the cognitive communication devices,” said Danielle Owens, clinical manager for Seton Williamson Rehab Services.

“Which is a very expensive there’s been a really change in how we work with kids, it used to be vendors could provide us with samples and we could work  with the kids without a cost to our program  but increasingly the vendors aren’t able to do that and we need some way to test  that these devices to make sure the devices are effective for the kids otherwise insurance companies wont [pay for it],” said Owens.

She explained that Seton’s Pediatric Rehabilitation Clinics are expanding so much it’s hard to keep up with the demand for the new technology.  For example, in 2011 the Round Rock clinic had 5,600 visits from  kids around Central Texas. 

Along with iPads, the clinics want to have more plasma bikes and Integrated Listening Systems for cognitive and communication issues.

Seton is raffling off a SMART car to help raise money to expand the clinics and the tools therapists use.

A little car with a big purpose

• 100 percent of proceeds to go clinics
•  Tickets are $20
• Six tickets for $100
• Sales will end at noon on March 25