District welcomes second robot for autism support, Robon
Sophia Wachter interacts with Robon.
Top row, from left, Officer Lee, speech and language pathologist Sarah Figural, AL/LSS teacher Natalie Jaskowski, Robokind representative Mark Losey, director of special education Becky Lieb, Horizon Foundation representative Amy D’Amico, school board member Manual Phakis, assistant superintendent Scott Chambers, superintendent Michael Daniels, and Borland Manor principal Marella McConnell; bottom row, Sophia Wachter, Kordell Waldon, Robon, Tommy White andCaitlynn Rothka pose for a picture.
So who is Robon the Robot? Canon-McMillan School District welcomed Milo the Robot recently, and now they’re welcoming Robon, the female-presenting version. Canon Mac is grateful to be the first district in Pennsylvania to obtain Robon to help teach students with autism.
Similar to Milo, but with red hair and a ponytail, Robon is a robot that was designed to help learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder learn and practice their communication and social skills. Robon can walk, talk, model human facial expressions and more. It delivers consistent lessons in a way that many of the students respond well to, and it can repeat lessons as many times as needed. Robon can even do some fun things like dance, act like it is swinging a baseball bat and tell the audience to stand up. It has a touchscreen on the chest that allows students to control it and/or see their own face as they’re watching Robon. The teacher and students use an iPad to facilitate the process while Robon delivers the instruction.
“By obtaining a female version, we’re providing students another opportunity to make a connection with the robot in hopes that we can reach all of our learners needing to expand their skills by utilizing this cutting-edge technology,” Director of Special Education Becky Lieb said.
“We plan to have the robots switch buildings from time to time so the students can interact with both the male and the female versions. I’m sure the female students who have been interacting with Milo will be ecstatic to interact with Robon.”