Kaspar the Friendly Robot Helps Kids with Autism

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=13081832

The idea behind this robot is great.  The story is about a doll robot that is supposed to help children with autism (notice I said children with autism, unlike the article...grrr face!) to understand facial expressions and different rules in social interactions.

However, there is a part in the article on page two where it says that they hope that the children can take what they learned in the situation with working with the robot to home.  This, from what I have learned, is much harder than it sounds.  To us neurotypicals, we have the flexibility to understand that if I cross the street one time in my hometown, I can cross the street anywhere.  However, people with autism have a very difficult time with flexibility.  In a video talk given by Temple Grandin, she talks about how if you are trying to teach a child with autism something, you need to give it in a whole bunch of different settings.

She uses the street example, but she says that you need to teach them where there are inconsistencies.  For instance, not all streets have crosswalks, and sometimes there is a crosswalk, but the paint is very faded.  In these examples, you need to teach them again the same way you taught them with the first street crossing.  In time, they will begin to recognize, realize, and remember what they are supposed to do in these situations.

Therefore, hoping that what children learn in the environment where they are interacting with the robot will transfer and show in the home life is flawed.  So, like I like to do, what can we do to help bring the things that they learn home.

First, I want to talk about the problems and then I will attempt to solve them.  The first problem is that when they are interacting with the robot, they can begin to recognize that the robot is consistent.  What I mean by this is that if they slap the robot, the robot will start crying.  The next time they slap the robot, the robot will start crying again.  They begin to recognize that there is a pattern and that the robot is consistent.  However, if I would slap you, you would probably do more than just cry.  And you might cry the first time and then yell at me the second time.  This inconsistency is what causes many people with autism anxiety.  Therefore, they can come home and slap someone and the person will yell at them and they might get very anxious or confused because they had learned that people cry when you slap them, not get angry.

I don't know if there is a solution to that problem.  Because on the one hand, it is good to help people with autism prepare for inconsistencies, but how do you do that without getting them anxious or confused.  I don't know about you, but when I am anxious or confused or both, I don't learn very well.

What can we do to help people with autism?  Just treat them like we would treat anyone else: with love and compassion.  And it would be helpful to let them know in advance if there is going to be an inconsistency in the schedule.