Young man's creative robots draw awareness to autism

If you know 23-year-old John Ryan Lee, then you know about his robots. He'll spend hours in a day, perfectly content, tinkering away at old electrical parts.

"He builds about three or four a week at least," John Ryan's mother Susan Lee said.

It doesn't take him long to build one either. During our short 30-minute visit, he managed to hammer out three robots. He makes all sorts, like dog robots, smoke detector robots, and his mother's favorite, the spider.

John Ryan has made thousands of robots. His mother Susan has a lot of them in her possession. They are keepsakes because his robots go fast.

"If you have one, you know you're pretty special," Heather Reel said.

Reel owns two of the robots. She got them at a fundraiser after ambitiously outbidding her competitors.

"I've always thought they were just the neatest things," Reel said. "I just think it's so neat how he expresses himself through these, you know."

Like many people with autism, John Ryan is beyond creative. When he was three years old, his mother noticed he couldn't verbalize.

"He didn't say those words: car, or mom, or dad, or any of those important things."

But when he's making his robots, he's communicating, because you know he's happy.

"He gets so excited," Susan said.

Most of all, John Ryan realizes that every time he finishes a robot, he'll get to give it away.

"It's unique to him, and it's special because it's something that's his own," Reel said.

For questions or comment on John Ryan's Robots, email Vipor7@mac.com.