Effects of Parental Involvement in Robot-Assisted Autism Therapy

Abstract

Parental involvement in traditional autism therapy is key to the effective treatment of children with ASD. Little is known about parental involvement in robot-assisted autism therapy (RAAT)—novel therapeutic support for children with ASD. Our study investigates the effect of parental presence on multiple-session RAAT conducted with 16 children with ASD. They interacted with the social robot in the presence or absence of their parents. We measured children's socio-behavioral outcomes and conducted semi-structured interviews with parents. Parents did not necessarily affect the children's outcomes during the interventions. However, children’s autism-related symptoms resulted in different socio-behavioral outcomes between sessions with and without parents. Most parents have reported positive changes in their children's behaviors when interacting with the robot.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being of children with autism spectrum disorder: Parents’ perspectives

“…Participants were recruited using convenience and snowball sampling. To recruit participants, we first contacted parents with whom we worked earlier on studies of robot-assisted therapy for children with ASD ( 25 , 26 ). As we needed to recruit more participants for the survey, we reached out to potential gatekeepers, such as the parental community, autism centers, and non-profit organizations, via email and Facebook.…”

Toward Family-Robot Interactions: A Family-Centered Framework in HRI

“…Eight toddlers refused to play with the robot in the playroom, while eleven toddlers interacted with the robot. The remote teleoperated system increased opportunities for grandparent-grandchild interactions and promoted the sharing of [1,20]; At Home Special Education and Family Bonding [6]; Family Co-Learning [2]; Family Dynamics [46] Robot Perceptions [43]; Robot Adoption in Long-Term [4,34,40]; Robot Acceptance [27,39,42] daily life. Motivated by these interactions, grandparents paid special attention to their appearance during video interactions.…”

“…The changes in these dynamics demonstrate the complex relationship between technology, family relationships, and family members' emotional well-being, emphasizing the need for nuanced approaches to family-centered human-robot interactions in healthcare. A 21-day multi-session robot-assisted autism therapy (RAAT) study by Amirova et al [4] included 16 children aged 5-12 and their parents in a Kazakhstan hospital therapy center. The study examined whether parental involvement during autism interventions affected the efficacy of RAAT interventions.…”

“…For example, new members may join or leave the family system for various reasons (short-term changes: work, vacation, school; long-term changes: birth, death, marriage, divorce). From the literature review, we identified that several family members' characteristics play a significant role in shaping how family members perceive and engage with robots, these include: family routines [40]; parents' STEM backgrounds [43]; dual parent employment and parenting styles [39]; family resilience towards changes in children's health conditions [34]; the spectrum of children's diagnosis and parents physical presence [4]; children's hedonic, social, and utilitarian beliefs [27]; and parents' perceptions towards the agency, intelligence, and expressivity of robots [42].…”

“…The robot system considers the technical and interactive attributes of the robot itself, including its design, capabilities, and functions. We identified varying use cases of robots that have distinct impacts on family life, such as those designed for storytelling [20,42], play [1,40,43], learning [2,27], therapy [4,6], communication [34,46], and childcare [39]. Several robot characteristics may support interactions between family members, for example, robot's ability to convey emotion [6], hold multi-party interactions [20], assist with homework, chores [27], entertainment [40], help maintain long-distance connections [34], as well as its communication style [46], perceived intelligence and agency [42].…”