36. World Autism Awareness Day - tackling autism with robots, 02/04/2021 00:04 - a podcast by RTL - Lisa Burke

LuxAI, a spin-off company from the University of Luxembourg, design social robots to help families with autistic children.



Here, Lisa talks to co-founder Dr. Aida Nazarikhorram and John McCahill.



Dr. Aida Nazarikhorram and her husband created LuxAI in 2016 to merge her medical experience with his AI and robotics knowledge. They had come to Luxembourg for his PhD at the university here.



Together, they created social robots to support children with autism, in order to gain the necessary skills for social inclusion, learning and independence. Across Europe, governmental institutions want to push for greater access for all to mainstream schooling and adult life. About 2% of the population is autistic.



John McCahill recently joined LuxAI in order to help design effective educational games for children with autism and other special needs. His background, as a Board-Certified Behaviour Analyst in Ireland and the U.K. has seen him work with toddlers all the way up to adulthood. John is an expert in knowing how to approach the learning autistic children require, and the immense stress put on families who, so often, have to do enormous amounts without sufficient support.



LuxAI was hugely aided by FNR, the Autisme Fondation Luxembourg, LuxInnovation, the Ministry of Economy and of course, the University of Luxembourg.

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