VOA标准英语2009年-Robot Helps Children with Disabilities

Julie Taboh | Washington 08 December 2009

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Cosmobot has made speech therapy fun for Kevin Fitzgerald, 6. He has developmental dyspraxia, a condition which makes it difficult for him to move his mouth and tongue.

"Cosmobot is able to elicit¹ behaviors that had been either considered very difficult to elicit or non-existent in children." Dr. Corinna Lathan

 

Industrial robots weld car parts together, assemble components² for computers and move large containers of hazardous³ materials. Now researchers are taking the field of robotics one step further, by creating "socially assistive" robots that can provide personalized, interactive⁴ therapy to children with special needs.

Kevin Fitzgerald, 6, cannot speak

Kevin Fitzgerald has made impressive gains since working with his special robot.

When you first meet Kevin Fitzgerald, he looks and acts like a typical six-year old.  He's lively and engaging and likes to play with computers.

But one thing that sets Kevin apart from his peers is that he doesn't speak. That's because Kevin has a severe case of developmental dyspraxia, a condition which makes it difficult for him to move his mouth and tongue.

Like many children with speech difficulties, Kevin works with a specially⁵ trained therapist to develop his speech.

Cosmobot is a socially-assistive robot

Cosmobot's creator, Dr. Corinna Lathan, says children can relate to as well as control, talk to and become friends with the interactive robot.

But Kevin's therapy goes beyond standard treatment. It includes working with a robot. Cosmobot, as it's called, looks like a mechanical doll, with moveable arms and legs. It is blue, about half a meter high, and has big eyes and a smiling mouth; facial features that kids find endearing.

Carole Samango-Sprouse is a certified⁶ neurodevelopmentalist who has been working with disabled children since 1982. She says what impressed her about Cosmobot was that it engaged kids immediately.

"They were absolutely entranced. They would work harder and longer.  And we saw it on the first day, first child. And every child was like that," she says.

Cosmobot as a therapy tool

One of the reasons Cosmobot is such a successful therapy tool, says Samango-Sprouse, is that children within Kevin's age group [between three and eight] think of it as a live person. They talk through the robot, and use it to follow directions.

Carole Samango-Sprouse with Kevin Fitzgerald. Her goal, as a neurodevelopmentalist, is for all of her patients to reach their optimum potential and, ideally, be independent of their parents.

During therapy with the robot says Samango-Sprouse, kids will work harder and for a longer time period.  "They will stay with you as long as you're willing to work," she says.

Samango-Sprouse has been treating Kevin for two years. During a recent therapy session, Kevin cradled Cosmobot in his lap and used its moveable arm to point to words on a chart.

While pointing to words is not fun for Kevin, says Samango-Sprouse, the fact that he could use the robot to point to the words, "made it fun."

Cosmobot as a friend and partner

In addition to using the robot to talk and follow directions, Kevin also likes to control its movements. By using a set of buttons that are attached to a computer, Kevin can make Cosmobot go forward, backward or move around in circles.

Samango-Sprouse says Cosmobot gives Kevin a sense of control. By using him as a compliant⁷ partner, she says, Kevin concentrates harder and follows directions better, which makes his therapy more effective.

"Cosmos⁸ gives Kevin planning capacity; he gives him independence because he can select with Cosmobot what he wants to do, and he gives me a vehicle to say, 'this is really hard, Cosmos really wants you to do it, let's do it together.' And he will work harder for it," she says.

Cosmobot also helps develop social skills

Kevin's mother, Patti Fitzgerald, says Cosmobot has made a positive impact on her son's social life.

Kevin's mother, Patti Fitzgerald, says her son has made great progress since he began working with Cosmo.

"When he's playing with his friends he's a little bit gentler," she says. "He used to walk up and hit somebody on the arm to say hello. I don't see him doing that any more. He's more [likely] to wave, and I think some of that comes from Cosmo just being quiet and Cosmo's very simple and Cosmo is steady and calm."

The mastermind behind Cosmobot is Dr. Corinna Lathan. She is the founder⁹ of AnthroTronix, an engineering research and development firm that she founded 10 years ago.

Lathan says she started the company to help children with cerebral¹⁰ palsy, Down's syndrome¹¹, autism and other types of developmental disabilities. The inspiration, she says, "was that the children's needs were not being met as well as they could have given the technology advances that we've seen over the years."

Cosmobot creator Dr. Corinna Lathan

Responses exceed expectations

Lathan says children seem to respond to Cosmobot physically¹², socially and cognitively¹³.

"They become friends with Cosmobot; Cosmobot is able to elicit behaviors that had been either considered very difficult to elicit or non-existent in children. Cosmobot has a tremendous impact on these kids within the therapy session."

Hopes for Kevin's future

While there are still many challenges ahead for Kevin Fitzgerald, his mother Patti is cautiously optimistic. She says she would love to see him get married, have kids and get his college degree. "I'm not sure if that is possible, but we'll have to wait and see," she says.

His therapist, Dr. Samano-Sprouse, is also encouraged. She expects that Kevin will be speaking by age 10, and will be conversational¹⁴ and understandable, though his speech, "will probably never sound normal," she says.

She anticipates Kevin going on to college, "in a very supportive, selective setting," but cautions that there's still a lot of work that needs be done to get him there.

The future for Cosmobot

Socially assistive robots like Cosmobot are still considered research tools, Corinna Lathan says, and are not used as much in the United States as they are in other countries. But she is optimistic that that will change, and Cosmobot will eventually be more accessible to children like Kevin

1 elicit   

v.引出,抽出,引起

参考例句：

• It was designed to elicit the best thinking within the government. 机构的设置是为了在政府内部集思广益。
• Don't try to elicit business secrets from me. I won't tell you anything. 你休想从我这里套问出我们的商业机密, 我什么都不会告诉你的。

2 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

3 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

4 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

5 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

6 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

7 compliant   

adj.服从的，顺从的

参考例句：

• I don't respect people who are too compliant.我看不起那种唯命是从，唯唯诺诺的人。
• For years I had tried to be a compliant and dutiful wife.几年来，我努力做一名顺从和尽职尽职的妻子。

8 cosmos   

n.宇宙；秩序，和谐

参考例句：

• Our world is but a small part of the cosmos.我们的世界仅仅是宇宙的一小部分而已。
• Is there any other intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos?在宇宙的其他星球上还存在别的有智慧的生物吗？

9 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

10 cerebral   

adj.脑的，大脑的；有智力的，理智型的

参考例句：

• Your left cerebral hemisphere controls the right-hand side of your body.你的左半脑控制身体的右半身。
• He is a precise,methodical,cerebral man who carefully chooses his words.他是一个一丝不苟、有条理和理智的人，措辞谨慎。

11 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

12 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

13 cognitively   

参考例句：

• Cognitively,man,the subject of cognition,must classify and categorize the objects. 从认知学角度来看 ，作为认知主体的人对于认知对象必须进行分类和范畴化。 来自互联网
• Cognitively, reference can be studied along with information processing of human mind. 从认知的角度看，要研究人类思维的信息处理过程。 来自互联网

14 conversational   

adj.对话的，会话的

参考例句：

• The article is written in a conversational style.该文是以对话的形式写成的。
• She values herself on her conversational powers.她常夸耀自己的能言善辩。