Milo the robot helping autistic students
The newest instructor at Tom C. Gooch Elementary is unlike any others there.
Milo, who started at the northwest Dallas school a month ago, looks like his fellow co-workers and some of his students in many ways. He sports a spiky brown hairstyle, smiles when he’s happy, frowns when he’s sad, and asks students about their interests.
But he’s also less than 2 feet tall, possesses blue arms and legs, and has a small screen in the middle of his chest. That’s because Milo, a doll-like robot, was designed to help young students with autism learn new vocabulary, calming techniques and other coping skills.
“He’s a very non-threatening way for kids to learn better social and emotional skills,” said Soraya Gollop, community liaison for Gooch Elementary. “A key way to allow our students with autism to be within the general population and be part of the classroom, which is best for their academic achievement, is to teach them those coping skills. That’s when Milo comes in.”
But Milo doesn’t work alone.