there seems to be a whole field of research and practice dedicated to using robotics to aid autistic children. the AuRoRA Project is using robotic toys to help autistic children with social skills. apparently, autistic children are more comfortable with robots. autism organizations are offering robotics courses for autistic children. Half-Life 2 facial expressions are used to help autistic children learn how to recognize expressions. Yale's Social Robotics Lab is using humanoid robots for the detection of vulnerabilities for autism in the first year of life. there was a recent article in the ny times about a 49-year-old just discovering that he is autistic. [via]