Robotic assistants in therapy and education of children with autism: can a small humanoid robot help encourage social interaction skills?

This article presents a longitudinal study with four children with autism, who were exposed to a humanoid robot over a period of several months. The longitudinal approach allowed the children time to explore the space of robot-human, as well as human-human interaction. Based on the video material do...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Universal access in the information society 2005-12, Vol.4 (2), p.105-120
Main Authors: Robins, B., Dautenhahn, K., Boekhorst, R. Te, Billard, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Autism
Children & youth
Education
Interpersonal communication
Qualitative research
Robots
Social psychology
Therapy
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Summary:This article presents a longitudinal study with four children with autism, who were exposed to a humanoid robot over a period of several months. The longitudinal approach allowed the children time to explore the space of robot-human, as well as human-human interaction. Based on the video material documenting the interactions, a quantitative and qualitative analysis was conducted. The quantitative analysis showed an increase in duration of pre-defined behaviours towards the later trials. A qualitative analysis of the video data, observing the children's activities in their interactional context, revealed further aspects of social interaction skills (imitation, turn-taking and role-switch) and communicative competence that the children showed. The results clearly demonstrate the need for, and benefits of, long-term studies in order to reveal the full potential of robots in the therapy and education of children with autism. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:1615-5289
1615-5297
DOI:10.1007/s10209-005-0116-3