I found this to be a very interesting article. Would love to know your thoughts. I think at even $1,000 it would be difficult for many parents to purchase a robot for their child but if there were grants available this would help.
Robot to help Autistic children
My son has Asperger’s Syndrome, more high functioning autism, and he does not have the speech issue that most Autistic children do. In fact many times he will talk incessantly about whatever subject he is obsessed with at the time. Currently it’s Mario from Nintendo. My son actually asked for a small robot a couple of Christmases ago and I got him that red Tri-bot. It turns out that he was more afraid of it though than engaged by it. He was only 8 then and he is more into playing with it now that he is closer to ten. I see pros and cons with the robot in this article but I do see a lot of potential.
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/260740/robots-now-therapists-playmates-autistic-children
22. July 2010 at 10:23 am
I suspect my boy who is on the spectrum would love it also. It’s the lack of changeable expression that would help, simplify things and save the confusion of faces and words meaning totally different things. I know my boy can hear better and focus better if he is not looking at a face, so I don’t push the eye contact issue – what ever works best for his brain to process the world he is in will do just fine.