"Autistic children find it difficult to play," said designer Helen Andreae, who developed Auti through an industrial design paper at Victoria University in the final year of her Honours degree last year under the supervision of lecturers Tim Miller and Edgar RodrÃguez RamÃrez.
Auti is a responsive, mechanised toy designed especially for autistic children six months and up has been created to teach positive play behaviours. The toy develops speaking, touching, and collaborating skills. It shuts down in response to any negative behaviour such as hitting or screaming, but quickly responds to the slightest positive interaction such as speaking gently or stroking. Each sensor can be adjusted to respond appropriately to a child's individual characteristics.
