A student in south-west London who has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer is using an interactive robot to keep up with his schoolwork. After Howard’s attendance dropped to less than 50% due to weekly chemotherapy sessions, his school in Twickenham introduced him to ‘AV Howard’. The robot allows him to attend his lessons remotely from home or the hospital. Howard can control ‘AV Howard’ using a camera and an in-built speaker, and his classroom peers take turns to carry the robot from lesson to lesson. The device was sourced from the Chartwell Children’s Cancer Trust by the charity Momentum, which supports families with seriously ill children.
Howard has said that living with cancer is painful, but using the robot has made a considerable difference. “Having AV Howard has made a really big impact for someone like me, who cares about their school,” he said. Teachers and students also had to undergo ‘robot training’ to help them integrate ‘AV Howard’ into the lessons. His headmaster, Martin O’Sullivan, believes the technology represents the future of education, reducing the impact of illness on children.
Momentum is optimistic that the robot will assist other children in the same situation as Howard, allowing them to continue learning effectively even if they are not able to attend school in person. Emma Searle, a manager at Momentum, said refusals could be made based on a child’s individual circumstances. “We really try to get to know the family to find out what they need,” she said. “One of Howard’s needs was accessing his education, which was really important to him, so we were able to put in that referral to Chartwell Children’s Cancer Trust.
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