When it comes to navigating screens in therapy, many clinicians feel stuck. We’re trained to follow a child’s interests to use as a bridge into connection, regulation, and meaningful therapeutic work. Dinosaurs, trains, princesses, superheroes – we know how to translate those into play.
But screens are different.
When a child says their only interest is Roblox, it’s often not just about a character. It’s about the digital experience itself – the speed, the immersion, the intensity. And that can feel much harder to enter, replicate, or redirect in the therapy room.
During the 2026 Play Conference, pediatric Occupational Therapist Rachel Gebers shared practical strategies for navigating screens in therapy – from ways to engage children by bringing the digital world into real-life, how we can thoughtfully utilise screens within sessions and how we guide families in setting boundaries at home.
Her core message was simple but powerful: There is no universal rule.
There is no single “right” amount of screen time.
Instead, we have to look at each child, each family, and each situation individually – and understand the function the screen is serving within that system.
So, how do we stay child-led and neurodiversity-affirming in a digital world – without losing sight of development, regulation, and real-world participation?
Why Screens Feel So Regulating
For many neurodivergent children, screens are not random distractions. They serve very real functions.
They filter out an overwhelming sensory world. The visual field is contained. The auditory input is controlled. It can feel like putting blinkers on and drowning out everything else. For a child whose nervous system is constantly on high alert, that predictability is powerful.
Predictability is another key piece. Familiar characters, repeated scripts, consistent colours, and known storylines create a sense of safety. For children with anxiety or sensory processing differences, this repetition can be deeply regulating.
For children with ADHD, fast-paced scrolling and high-intensity content can provide the dopamine input their brains are craving. For autistic children – particularly gestalt language processors – a lot of the emotive content and like the high intonation of YouTube videos is actually very supportive for them learning chunks of language. Some families genuinely see communication blossom through this exposure.
There is also a motor component we cannot ignore. Many neurodivergent children experience dyspraxia or underlying motor planning challenges. Coordinating the body in space can feel hard. Screens, by contrast, require minimal motor demand. Swiping is easy. Sitting is predictable. If movement is difficult, avoidance makes sense.
When we understand these layers – sensory, cognitive, motor, emotional – screens stop looking like the enemy and start looking like a regulator. But we still need to be aware of when this acts a supportive function, and when it does not.
When Screens Support – and When They Limit
Rachel emphasises that this is where nuance matters. Some important points to be asking parents is:
What happens after screen time?
Can the child transition away?
Is it expanding communication or narrowing participation?
Is it the only regulator – or one of many tools?
Some families describe screens as a lifeline. The iPad keeps their child safe from jumping around in the car. It prevents escalation. It gives a parent ten minutes of mental space to cope. Other families report that their child is significantly more dysregulated after screen time and struggles intensely with transitions away from it.
If a child is calmer, able to transition, and continues to participate in family life, the screen may be functioning as a helpful regulation tool. On the flipside, if a child becomes highly dysregulated, cannot disengage, and relies on it as their sole coping mechanism, that is likely the point of intervention.
When the Screen Is the Family’s Lifeline
When navigating screens in therapy, we are rarely working with the child in isolation. Parents are often exhausted. Many feel judged. Most already wish their child spent more time outdoors or engaged in “real world” play.
What they do not need is more guilt.
If a screen is currently the only thing preserving a family’s stability, removing it without replacing it does not teach regulation. It simply removes the one strategy that is working.
Instead, the work becomes expanding the regulation toolbox. We are not trying to replace the screen entirely – that’s unrealistic, but rather look at other strategies we have to work alongside the screen. What sensory inputs does this child prefer? Deep pressure? Intense movement? Oral input like crunchy snacks? Vestibular stimulation? Can we introduce proactive strategies throughout the day so the screen is not the only option available when dysregulation hits?
Context also matters. Watching content together on a larger television in a shared space naturally creates more opportunity for co-regulation and interaction than a child isolated on a phone or tablet with headphones. It also allows for movement – bouncing, pacing, acting out scenes – rather than purely sedentary engagement.
Integrating Digital Interests into Therapy
Child-led practitioners are already good at bringing occupation into meaningful activities. So it shouldn’t be difficult to take interests from a digital world and translate that into the real world – it simply requires a little more creativity and intention.
With younger children, integration can happen quite organically. A child may arrive singing songs from Bluey or quoting YouTube videos which the therapist can join in (if the child allows). Rhythm, repetition, and shared affect become regulating tools. What began as a screen-based interest becomes a moment of connection and co-regulation in the room.
Rachel shared an example of a child who was deeply interested in Numberblocks. She sourced Numberblocks stickers and built them into obstacle courses and hide-and-seek games. Through that theme, she was able to target praxis goals, support back-and-forth interaction, and sustain engagement for far longer than would have been possible without the child’s intrinsic interest leading the way.
The digital interest became the bridge – not the barrier.
For older children, platforms like Minecraft offer endless opportunities for translation. There are countless themed sensory circuits, movement challenges, and printable resources available online. Even traditionally tabletop goals – handwriting, fine motor tasks, visual-motor integration – can be embedded within familiar themes from shows like Bluey or other preferred content.
When we approach digital interests with curiosity rather than resistance, they often become some of our most powerful therapeutic tools.
Boundaries, Consistency, and Emotional Safety
Every family is going to have their own level of what is appropriate for them in terms of screen time limits, and that’s something they will need to figure out themselves. But when families do choose to reduce screen time, preparation is essential.
Rachel advises:
Be prepared for emotional upset.
Be consistent.
Have replacement strategies ready.
Make sure you are regulated enough to hold the boundary.
Most importantly, limits must be paired with alternatives.
If a screen has been providing dopamine, regulation, or escape from overwhelm, removing it will almost certainly trigger a response. That response is not misbehaviour – it is a nervous system losing one of its main coping tools.
Replacement strategies should be planned in advance, not improvised mid-meltdown.
Families can approach this proactively by saying something like:
“When screen time finishes and you feel upset, this is what we’re going to do. We’ve got a crunchy snack ready. We can have a sip of water. We can go outside. We can do some star jumps. I know this is hard when the screen ends, and it’s okay to feel sad. But it’s finished now, and here are some other things your body can do.”
Notice what this does.
It acknowledges the emotion.
It validates the difficulty.
It maintains the boundary.
And it offers concrete, body-based options.
Giving children clear alternatives – deep pressure, movement breaks, oral input, outdoor time, shared play – helps shift the focus from “What I’ve lost” to “What I can do next.”
The Bigger Picture
We live in a fast-paced, technology-saturated world, but our bodies still need the sensory motor input that they’ve always needed
Play may not look exactly like it did a generation ago. It may include digital themes. It may look different across settings. But the drive to explore, connect, and learn through playful engagement remains constant.
The work is not about eliminating screens. It is about understanding them – and weaving sensory, relational, and movement-based experiences into the world children already inhabit.
This is just a glimpse: watch the full interview plus 15 other expert-led talks from the 2026 Play Conference – The Experience Gap: Are Our Kids Experiencing the World or Just Watching It?
About Rachel Gebers
Rachel is an paediatric Occupational Therapist with over 10 years’ experience supporting inclusion for children with special educational needs, including work across diverse international contexts. Her practice is grounded in neurodiversity-affirming approaches, with advanced training in DIR Floortime, Neurodevelopmental Therapy, and SOS Feeding, alongside a strong focus on the mental wellbeing of parent-carers. She is currently completing an MSc in Public Health to deepen her understanding of how to improve access to care for children with SEN and their families.
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