Irruption of technologies in the educational context, specifically robotics has meant changes in the use of learning tools for students with ASD. In this sense, the inclusion of robots in intervention with these students allowed to design simpler and more controlled learning environments, adjusted to the needs of these students. From this line of…

Aim: The current study investigates the outcomes of the interaction between four elementary school pupils with autism spectrum disorders and a robot called Daisy. Method: During structured and prepared activities which were conducted by the social robot, as well as by a human partner. Results: Results indicate positive outcomes during the…

Technological advances have facilitated robots to perform a variety of human-like functions which have steered the interest of educators, researchers, and practitioners to discover the potential advantage of using robots as an intervention for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Through meta-analysis, this study provides research-based…

Independent studies in various settings indicate that interventions with Socially Assistive Robots, might help children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to participate in activities that demand cooperation and communication skills. The purpose of this article is to present the benefits of robot assisted interventions in the development of…

Social robots are thought to be motivating tools in play tasks with children with autism spectrum disorders. Thirty children with autism were included using a repeated measurements design. It was investigated if the children's interaction with a human differed from the interaction with a social robot during a play task. Also, it was examined if…

Although it has often been argued that clinical applications of advanced technology may hold promise for addressing impairments associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), relatively few investigations have indexed the impact of intervention and feedback approaches. This pilot study investigated the application of a novel robotic interaction…

In this study we examined the social behaviors of 4- to 12-year-old children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD; N = 24) during three tradic interactions with an adult confederate and an interaction partner, where the interaction partner varied randomly among (1) another adult human, (2) a touchscreen computer game, and (3) a social dinosaur…

It has been argued that clinical applications of advanced technology may hold promise for addressing impairments associated with autism spectrum disorders. This pilot feasibility study evaluated the application of a novel adaptive robot-mediated system capable of both administering and automatically adjusting joint attention prompts to a small…

The effects of a socially interactive robot on the conversational turns between four young children with autism and their mothers were investigated as part of the intervention study described in this research report. The interventions with each child were conducted over 4 or 5 days in the children's homes where a practitioner facilitated…

Findings from two studies of 11 young children with autism, Down syndrome, or attention deficit disorders investigating the effects of Popchilla, a socially interactive robot, on the children's affective behavior are reported. The children were observed under two conditions, child-toy interactions and child-robot interactions, and ratings of child…

The effects of a socially interactive robot on the vocalization production of five children with disabilities (4 with autism, 1 with a sensory processing disorder) were the focus of the intervention study described in this research report. The interventions with each child were conducted over 4 or 5 days in the children's homes and involved…

Findings from two studies investigating the effects of a socially interactive robot on the vocalization production of young children with disabilities are reported. The two studies included seven children with autism, two children with Down syndrome, and two children with attention deficit disorders. The Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA)…

A number of different types of socially interactive robots are being used as part of interventions with young children with disabilities to promote their joint attention and language skills. Parents' judgments of two dimensions (acceptance and importance) of the social validity of four different social robots were the focus of the study described…

Background and Objectives: The aim of this exploratory study is to test whether social stories presented by a social robot have a greater effect than ones presented on a computer display in increasing the independency in expressing social abilities of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Although much progress has been made in developing…

Purpose: Speech disorder is one of the most common problems found with autistic children. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the introduction of computer-based interactive games along with the traditional therapies in order to help improve the speech of autistic children. Design/methodology/approach: From analysis of the works of Ivar…