For special education teachers, understanding the struggles
their students face is the closest they may get to walking in
their shoes, so they’re always on the lookout for new tools and
resources that will help their special students.
Last summer, that’s exactly what happened when Grace Lani,
Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the Canon-Mac
School District, came across a unique teacher at a conference.
His name is Milo and he’s a robot designed to interact with
students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Kids with ASD struggle with social and communication
skills. They do not read facial expressions the same ways as
kids without ASD, and therefore require additional, specialized
lesson plans and teaching tools to help them acclimate in and out
of the classroom.
Milo, designed by Dallas-based company RoboKind, helps
students with ASD learn and practice their communication and
social skills. He can walk, talk, model human facial expressions,
and more. Many students respond well to the way he delivers
consistent lessons and can repeat lessons as many times as
needed.
Lani reached out to Milo’s representative at the conference,
Mark Losey, CEO of EdTech. EdTech partners with RoboKind
and has already placed 10 Milos in western PA school districts.
He is in awe of what this “teacher” can do.
“I’ve been specializing in educational technology for 28 years.
Now that we’re locally supporting incredible advancements like
Milo, it is hard to imagine a couple of decades back when the
Internet wasn’t available in classrooms,” he said.
“And, while Milo is still a fairly new creation,
he has already had a positive, lasting effect and
become more adaptive to each student’s needs.
He’s just incredible.”
Lani, Losey and Canon-Mac Special Education
Director Becky Lieb met last spring to discuss
all things Milo, and how he could become the
newest faculty member in their school district.
“We were determined to raise the necessary
funds to acquire Milo,” says Lieb. “So, we reached
out to the Canon-Mac Horizon Foundation to see
if they could help find donors to cover the cost of
purchasing Milo and the associated curriculum.
Amy D’Amico and Kathy Berry, President and
Vice President respectively of the Canon-Mac
Horizon Foundation, quickly found sponsors
who were excited about this opportunity for our
students.”
“We love a new challenge,” says D’Amico.
“Canon-Mac School District has one of the
largest special needs student populations in the
It is hard to imagine a couple of
decades back when the Internet
wasn’t available in classrooms.
And, while Milo is still a fairly new
creation, he has already had a
positive, lasting effect and become
more adaptive to each student’s
needs. He’s just incredible.
area, and families have moved here specifically to ensure their
children have the best educational experiences. Once we heard
about Milo, we dug in and began contacting people who may
be interested in making Milo a reality for the kids. It wasn’t
a difficult sell. Range Resources and Jeffrey’s Drug Store in
Canonsburg donated the necessary funds to purchase him and
two years of curriculum. We are so thrilled and appreciative
of their sponsorship and know this new learning tool will be
helpful for years to come.”
Milo was first introduced to his Canon-Mac students in
May 2019. Kids got to see some of his cool features and how
he speaks and teaches. Milo can also do some fun things like
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CANON-MAC
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