Ask HN: Can a Voice Chatbot help my adult autistic brother with everyday tasks?

5 points by davidcoronado 9 years ago | 11 comments

Hi Everyone,

I'm thinking of building a Voice-Chatbot to help my autistic brother be more productive. He is in his 20's now and works at a grocery store as a bagger. I've noticed for years now that my mother is constantly asking him the same questions, "Wake up", "take a shower", "get ready for work", "have you eaten today", "it's time to leave the house for work", etc. He would be consider to have mild autism on the autism spectrum since he can do well in school but has a hard time connecting with people socially which has lead to a life of isolation. I'm wondering if building a Voice Chatbot via Alexa would help lessen the load for my mother and help my brother with everyday tasks.

These are the task/commands I'm hoping to help him with.

1. Wake up (notify if work day or not) -Calendar API -bedroom light switch API

2. Get ready for work -Weight sensor API (for bed) -Shower sensor API -Mirror sensor (recognizes work outfit) API -Phone location sensor API

3. Ask what he has eaten today. -Record response -Send Daily Email/Text Summary to my mother

4. Ask if he would like to (random activity) -activity suggestions (go on a walk, go to the game store, go watch a movie, etc)

5. It's time to go to bed now -turns TV power switch off API -turns bedroom light switch API -lock computer API

Do you think this would be helpful with his everyday tasks and do have any suggestions?

cbhl 9 years ago |

What causes your brother to be able to do these tasks? Is it that the instructions are presented step-by-step? Is it because his mother cares about him getting it done?

Have you tried using lower-tech devices to help remind him? A paper agenda, Google Calendar, and alarm clocks/wristwatches are all techniques that other autistic people have used with varying levels of success.

If you want to test whether the Echo reminder would help, you should try a lower-fidelity prototype -- record your mother saying the reminder with a tape recorder or a Sound Recorder app on a computer, and then play it back at the appropriate time and see how he responds. (If it was me, I'd find it rather insulting and might respond angrily, but I wouldn't assume your brother acts the same way.)

Does your brother want to live independently of your mother? If your mother is the only social contact that your brother has during the whole day, then replacing her with an Echo might make him even more isolated, right?

davidcoronado 9 years ago | |

Those are some great points. He needs a constant reminder to do things. We've tried alarms before but it's only when we talk to him that he responds. I think the Amazon Echo could be a good first start with testing. I was thinking of manually dictating Alexa to see how effective it is and how he reacts.

He has social interaction at work but my mother travels often which makes it difficult for her because she has to constantly be calling him to make sure he is up and ready to get out the door. I'm just looking for a solution to help him be more independent and make it easier for her when she travels.

cbhl 9 years ago | | |

It's important that your brother wants to become independent by himself, and understands why they stand to benefit from it. (For me, living independently means I can go to sleep early if I want, or go to sleep late if I want, or sleep in an extra hour, so long as I'm not late for work the next day.) You don't want to try to force the Echo onto your brother to make him independent if he's not willing -- it will just end with him ignoring the Echo, or worse, trying to break the thing. (I realize that it may be hard to have this conversation with him. It's not totally clear how "high-functioning" your brother is from your post.)

I agree that alarms are a mixed bag. They can cause sensory overload for some; for others they're easily missed/ignored (especially if they go off too often).

An aside: it sounds like you're trying to justify the purchase of an Echo by using your brother as an excuse. Don't do that. If you just want an Echo, you should own up to it and buy it because you want it. But if you already have one, it's fine to experiment with it.

A voice recording alarm clock is a lot cheaper than an Echo; have you tried that? There are also vibrating alarms (the Pebble had a great one, but they went out of business -- the Fitbit "Silent Alarms" are too weak in comparison).

auganov 9 years ago |

Does he respond to text? If so you could make a bot that masquerades as mum. Or perhaps you can just settle for a half-solution that would make it much easier for mum to be issuing these commands? Like having Alexa function as an always-on intercom rather than having to call him.

I'd think mum being the person telling him to do stuff, is what's working. Rather than just the fact that it's a voiced command? Does he listen to you too?

davidcoronado 9 years ago | |

He does respond to text and Facebook Messenger but only hours later. He listens to anyone who encourages him to do things. He's a great kid and has a sense of humor. I've just noticed that it takes having a conversation with him to help to get things started. He can take care of himself but just needs a little push to do things or else he'll just lay in bed and watch YouTube videos all day.

ParameterOne 9 years ago |

I think that is a great idea! I'm wondering if it would have any effect if he heard his own voice too? Like the voice in our heads.

davidcoronado 9 years ago | |

That's a really good idea! I love the concept of "the voice in our heads". Thanks for the idea!

zer00eyz 9 years ago |

I spent part of my youth working with special needs kids.

Everyone is different, and you never know what is going to work.

First lets talk about what is truly positive in what your doing, you have a goal: "lessen the load for my mother".

The reality is that your mom isn't going to be there forever, and giving your brother a life that is his own matters.

That opens up my next questions:

Do the things your proposing solve the underlying issues or do they simply shift the burden? Do you want to have to maintain these API's forever? What happens if amazon stops offering alexa? What happens if your brother transitions into an environment where he can not take advantage of the technologies your building? What happens if the power goes out for a few days (it can happen)?

I would suggest that you spend your efforts finding a good occupational therapist first. I suspect that this is going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack and in the short term would make a lot of other solutions seem more practical. Your looking for a person who is good at what they do and gets along with your brother, depending on where you live this could be HARD.

It might take a long time to get your brother to the next level when it comes to his functioning. It might cost you quite a bit out of pocket in the (relative) near term. However if your brother lives to be 50 or older these costs will turn out to be rather small in the long run. Your freeing your mother, and eventually yourself, from burdens (I don't mean that in a callous way but a loving one) and giving your brother more independence and flexibility.

---------------------------------------------

With all of that out there, I don't want to dissuade you from building any of the things you suggest. People with special needs need every advantage they can get, hell some of the things your suggesting would be of benefit to regular folks as well. A "Weight sensor API for bed" not only helps your brother but every parent with a lazy teenager!

Realize that there are probably others who want, need or are willing to support you in building these these tools for people with special needs and/or disabilities. If your going to be open (source not minded) then you might be surprised at how much support you get. Prosthetics 3d printing is probably the most prominent and impactful example I can think of that uses this model, and there is plenty of room and support for others.

As a final bit of encouragement, you need to go dig in at hackaday.com one of their 2017 prizes is for assistive technology!

https://hackaday.io/prize/details