The Blairsville-Saltsburg School District recently purchased a new aide to help kids with autism.
At a recent meeting of the school board, the board approved the purchase of the Milo robot from Robokind, which is a humanoid robot that can stand on a tabletop, but it is more than just a toy that can talk. Milo is programmed to help teach social skills to autistic students and students with other behavioral problems. Heather Kress, a speech language pathologist with the district says that students will be able to interact with Milo as part of the lessons through the student’s iPads.
Regina Geesey, the special education director for the district, says that while the Milo robot has been praised for helping students who are on the autism spectrum, its work goes beyond that, to help kids with behavioral disorders of any type to learn needed social skills.
Milo has gained critical praise from teachers across the nation, and was featured at the RoboUniverse technical expo in New York. According to Robokind, this is the first affordable advanced social robot designed to teach critical social skills that may be difficult for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
(Photo by Josh Widdowson)
