April is always designated Autism Awareness Month, and as we look back at the efforts FAM has made to help address the challenges of autism for children and families, our journey began with our first social robot, Romibo!
From Romibo, we grew to love Migo and Hugo and Misty. Children with Autism and Adults with Alzheimer’s Disease engaged excitedly with our socially assistive robots.
Migo poses for a photo opp with a favorite piece of artwork!!
Hugo gets a well-deserved hug!
Misty helps with social skills!
The unique combination of the human/robot interaction, which inspires a nearly irresistible urge to communicate, and the robot’s ability to reduce inhibition, creates the perfect tool for communication. We’ve seen hundreds of children make enormous strides toward verbalization, task completion and socialization since 2013, with what we now call: FAMbots.
But that’s not all. Spinoff organization, PEERbots has taken the app we use to new heights! We now have the ability to operate our robots remotely, so that you can receive Social Robot Therapy for your child in your home: get a robot body from FAM; supply your own device (android tablet or ipad); download a free app (new version coming to the app store soon!). FAM therapists will implement sessions remotely–easy to set up and use, covid safe and enormously fun!
We’ve come a long way–thanks to the tireless work and expertise of Aubrey Shick and John Choi. Please reach out if you’d like more information.
