Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

13-year-old Matthew Kolen, who was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome at age eight, hugs his mother Suzanne at their home in Long Island, New York on March 30, 2012. Matthew's diagnosis will soon be dropped in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM-5, the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic reference book, to be subsumed into the broader category of autism spectrum disorder.

Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

Suzanne Kolen watches her son Matthew as he prepares to blow out candles on his 13th birthday cake at his home in Long Island on June 4, 2012.

Reuters reports — Struggling to describe her son, Suzanne Kolen of Long Island, New York, uses a friend's recent description: He's the 13-year-old boy bouncing down the road in the rain looking very much like Winnie the Pooh's friend, Tigger.

"He's a genuinely happy kid," Kolen says of her son, a bright boy who loves nature and paleontology and has never been defined by his diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism marked by social awkwardness and narrow interests that make personal relationships challenging.

Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

Matthew sits in a room inside his house after returning from school on April 16, 2012.

Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

Matthew looks into his fish tank on May 16, 2012.

Like many on the autism spectrum, Matthew finds it difficult to make eye contact. "I can't stare into someone's eyes," he says. "It just hurts."

Kolen says her son still struggles with the give and take of conversation. "It's very difficult for him to allow the other person to speak. He still tends to dominate."

But Matthew is bright, and she believes with enough practice, he will learn how to respond appropriately to social cues, even if he's "a little rough around the edges."

"My goal is to make sure that in the end, he has a place to work, earning a living and supporting himself in what he loves to do," says Kolen.

Read the full story: What's in a name?  Losing Asperger's label not such a big change

Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

Matthew, right, plays with a friend during his bar mitzvah in Melville, New York on June 16, 2012.

Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

Matthew's chore list, posted on the refrigerator at his home in Long Island, on March 30, 2012.

Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

Matthew, left, hugs his brother Russell after blowing out the candles on his 13th birthday cake on June 4, 2012.

Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

Matthew practices Taekwondo in Long Island on April 16, 2012.

Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

Matthew eats breakfast as his medication sits nearby at his house in Long Island on March 30, 2012.

Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

Matthew laughs as his brother Russell plays before leaving for school on March 30, 2012.

Maria Cheng of AP reports: Eden Sawczenko used to recoil when other little girls held her hand and turned stiff when they hugged her. This year, the 4-year-old autistic girl began playing with a robot that teaches about emotions and physical contact — and now she hugs everyone.

Alastair Grant / AP

Eden Sawczenko reacts to 'Kaspar' the robot who is showing the 'Happy' stance of two open arms as she takes part in research project in Hatfield, England on Feb. 28. Eden attends a nursery for autistic children in Stevenage, north of London, where researchers bring in a human-looking, child-sized robot once a week for a supervised session.

"She's a lot more affectionate with her friends now and will even initiate the embrace," said Claire Sawczenko, Eden's mother.

The girl attends a pre-school for autistic children in Stevenage, north of London, where researchers bring in a human-looking, child-sized robot once a week for a supervised session. The children, whose autism ranges from mild to severe, play with the robot for up to 10 minutes alongside a scientist who controls the robot with a remote control.

Alastair Grant / AP

A girl named Megan (no last name given) reacts to 'Kaspar' the robot, seen in the background. She is enacting the two handed sign for hiding that copies the robot, in Hatfield, England on Feb. 28.

The robot, named Kaspar, is programmed to do things like smile, frown, laugh, blink and wave his arms. He has shaggy black hair, a baseball cap, a few wires protruding from his neck, and striped red socks. He was built by scientists at the University of Hertfordshire at a cost of about $2,100.

Read the full story and visit Kaspar's website.