SEND School

Mount Sinai

0-18 years old
MLD class

Organisation

Mount Sinai’s Charles Lazarus Children’s Ability Center

Age group

0-18 years old

Group size

1:1 and small group sessions

Type of special needs

Children and young adults with physical and developmental disabilities, including autism, cerebral palsy, and complex needs

Setting

Rehab centre

Organisation’s bio: The Charles Lazarus Children’s Ability Center is part of Mount Sinai in New York City — a hospital-based outpatient rehab centre supporting children and young adults from birth through age 18. The centre serves patients with a wide range of complex conditions including neurological, orthopaedic, genetic, and developmental disorders.

With many families travelling from different boroughs and time constraints on sessions, the team delivers highly adaptive, impactful therapy using the best of what’s available — often in tight spaces, with limited equipment.

How do you use Cosmo at your organisation?

Cosmo is used by both physical and occupational therapists across a wide range of clinical goals — strength building, dynamic balance, coordination, motor planning, and attention regulation.

“I’ve used it in planks, obstacle courses, even inchworms. It helps with
dynamic balance, attention span, and makes exercises more engaging,
especially when we want the child to ‘stick with it’ a little longer.”

Therapists frequently integrate Cosmo into their sessions to improve motivation and engagement:

“You could do it in a closet if you had to. The setup is that simple. It
doesn’t take up space, and it’s quick to start a session.”

The aim of the conducted activity

The aim was to enhance therapy engagement and improve adherence — especially among children who may struggle with traditional therapy formats. Cosmo helped:

Increase time-on-task
Promote goal-oriented movement
Introduce a sense of fun and competitiveness
Maintain motivation for repetitive activities

“Some of our kids with autism attend to Cosmo in a way they don’t with
anything else. The lights, colours, and sound really hold their focus —
I’ve had two-year-olds stick with an activity for an entire minute.”

How was Cosmo used?

1:1 therapy: Activities customised to each child’s needs — from cause-and-effect games to strength and balance training.

Therapy goals supported: Motor planning, endurance, spatial awareness, focus, and attention span.

Activities included: Obstacle courses, timed reaction games, and task-specific routines with audio-visual feedback.

Therapists also used Cosmo to introduce time-bound challenges

“I can set Cosmo for 30 seconds and know they stayed with the task for the
full time. That’s not always possible with other tools.”

How did learners/clients/users respond?

Engagement was strong across age groups and conditions. Even children with limited attention spans or sensory processing difficulties were drawn in by Cosmo’s colours, lights, and music:

“Cosmo is just fun — it’s motivating. Most kids haven’t experienced this type
of gaming, and there’s something about the bright lights, music, and
interactivity that really draws them in.”

What worked the best?

The simplicity and flexibility of setup made Cosmo ideal for a hospital setting with spatial constraints. Its ability to engage children — even very young ones — helped therapists stretch activity duration and push for more ambitious goals:

“For some of the older kids, getting a score adds a level of competitiveness.
They want to beat their score — it pushes them to go further.”

Cosmo also enabled therapists to be creative:

“It’s helped us think more creatively about treatment. Cosmo is not ‘old
school’ therapy — it pushes us to use tech in ways that set us apart.”

Has Cosmo contributed to broader organisational goals?

Yes. Cosmo has supported staff development and confidence with tech-enabled therapy. It has also contributed to therapy continuity through a pilot home-loaning programme: