Affect Recognition in Autism: A single case study on integrating a humanoid robot in a standard therapy

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a multifaceted developmental disorder that comprises a mixture of social impairments, with deficits in many areas including the theory of mind, imitation, and communication. Moreover, people with autism have difficulty in recognising and understanding emotional expressions. We are currently working on integrating a humanoid robot within the standard clinical treatment offered to children with ASD to support the therapists. In this article, using the A-B-A' single case design, we propose a robot-assisted affect recognition training and to present the results on the child's progress during the five months of clinical experimentation. In the investigation, we tested the generalization of learning and the long-term maintenance of new skills via the NEPSY-II affection recognition sub-test. The results of this single case study pilot suggest the feasibility and effectiveness of using a humanoid robot to assist with emotion recognition training in children with ASD.

Effectiveness of a Robot-Assisted Psychological Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…In regards with social perception and similarly to other studies (Conti et al, 2019 ; Marino et al, 2020 ; Pop et al, 2013 ) AF and ToM were clearly improved for both groups, after the intervention. Both groups also presented significantly better performance, fewer errors and less completion time in IN which is an executive function highly related to social functioning and emotional competence (Li et al, 2020 ).…”

Robot-Based Intervention for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Literature Review

“…The participants of these 38 studies were between 2 and 20 years old: The youngest participants of the studies were 2-14 years (rounded to full years) respectively (mean: 6, median: 5, standard deviation: 3; rounded to integers); the oldest participants of the studies were 2-20 years (rounded to full years) respectively (mean: 10, median: 10, standard deviation: 4). Two of the 38 studies included only one participant [13], [14]; for the remaining 36 studies we calculated the number of years between the youngest and the oldest child: it was 0 to 13 years respectively (mean: 5, median: 5, standard deviation: 3; rounded to integers). The six studies providing information on the age of the participants -but neither the exact ages nor the age ranges -either provided the mean age of the participants (9.03 years [15], 10 years [16], 11.4 years [17], 2.5 years [18]), the mean age and the standard deviation (5.4±1.5 years [19]), or the inclusion criteria regarding age (6-9 years [20]).…”

“…Children with ASD [10], [12], [13], [15]- [17], [19], [21]- [43] Children with autism [7]- [9], [12], [13], [19], [20], [34], [37], [41], [42], [44]- [47] Autistic children [8], [15], [19], [20], [36], [46], [48]- [52] Children on/with autism spectrum [22], [53] ASD children [54] Autism children [51] TD children [10], [12], [19], [21], [24], [26], [43], [47], [52] Normal children [8], [20], [36], [49], [51] Neurotypical children [13], [16], [23], [50] Typical individuals…”

“…Articles Humanoid NAO [7], [8], [13], [15], [17], [20], [22], [24], [25], [32], [36], [37], [39]- [42], [47]- [49], [51], [55], [56] ZECA [12], [33], [50], [52], [54], [57] Darwin-Mini [7], [16], [23], [43], [58] Kaspar [9], [28], [37], [59] iRobiQ [30], [44], [45] CARO [30], [44], [ [34] nipulator with a basketball hoop attached to its end-effector. RBB displays different affective states by moving the hoop in 3D with different speed levels, accompanied with soft background music [34].…”

“…Robot used Emotion taught Happiness/joy [8], [13], [20], [22], [47], [55] NAO [12], [50], [52], [57] ZECA [30], [44] iRobiQ, CARO [61] Probo [11] Keepon [18] Sphero [16] ROMO, Darwin-Mini [9] Kaspar [19] R-50 Alice [38] Bee-Bot Sadness [8], [13], [20], [22], [47], [55] NAO [12], [50], [52], [57] ZECA [30], [44] iRobiQ, CARO [11], [27] Keepon [61] Probo [18] Sphero [16] ROMO, Darwin-Mini [9] Kaspar [19] R-50 Alice [38] Bee-Bot Fear/scared/afraid [8], [13], [20], [22], [24], [47], [55] NAO [12], [50],…”