Sociopsychological and physiological effects of a robot-assisted therapy for children with autism

Bharatharaj, Jaishankar; Huang, L.; Al‐Jumaily, Ahmed M.; Elara, Mohan Rajesh

doi:10.1177/1729881417736895

Cited by 22 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…For the experimental articles, we classified the type of robot used in the experiment into five categories: human-like, animal-like, toy-like, machine-like, and wearable robots; From our review, we found that the majority of the articles (ten articles) used a human-like robot in their studies [ 2 , 6 , 9 , 10 , 14 , 18 , 19 , 21 , 24 , 37 ], seven articles used an animal-like robot [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 36 ], five articles used a toy-like robot [ 17 , 20 , 22 , 23 , 30 ], two articles used a machine-like robot [ 25 , 35 ], and only one article used a wearable robot [ 34 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Systematic Review of Research on Robot-Assisted Therapy for Children with Autism

Alabdulkareem

Alhakbani

Al-Nafjan

2022

Sensors

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Recent studies have shown that children with autism may be interested in playing with an interactive robot. Moreover, the robot can engage these children in ways that demonstrate essential aspects of human interaction, guiding them in therapeutic sessions to practice more complex forms of interaction found in social human-to-human interactions. We review published articles on robot-assisted autism therapy (RAAT) to understand the trends in research on this type of therapy for children with autism and to provide practitioners and researchers with insights and possible future directions in the field. Specifically, we analyze 38 articles, all of which are refereed journal articles, that were indexed on Web of Science from 2009 onward, and discuss the distribution of the articles by publication year, article type, database and journal, research field, robot type, participant age range, and target behaviors. Overall, the results show considerable growth in the number of journal publications on RAAT, reflecting increased interest in the use of robot technology in autism therapy as a salient and legitimate research area. Factors, such as new advances in artificial intelligence techniques and machine learning, have spurred this growth.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We found that 28% of the articles (seven articles) used animal-like robots. KiliRo was used in 8% of the articles (two articles) [ 29 , 31 ], while Keepon [ 27 ], RoboParrot [ 36 ], ifbot [ 28 ], and Tornado [ 33 ] were used in one study each.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review of Research on Robot-Assisted Therapy for Children with Autism

Alabdulkareem

Alhakbani

Al-Nafjan

2022

Sensors

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“…Finally, comparison of this dog therapy to other programs using simple models with predictable responses, such as other kinds of animal therapy, computer-based programs, and robot-assisted therapies (i.e. Bharatharaj et al, 2017), would allow clarification of the uniqueness of this intervention.…”

Section: Study Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dog training intervention improves adaptive social communication skills in young children with autism spectrum disorder: A controlled crossover study

Ben‐Itzchak

Zachor

2021

Autism

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Controlled studies examining canine therapy in autism spectrum disorder are scarce. This study examined the effectiveness of a “Dog Training Intervention” on adaptive skills, autism severity, and anxiety using a controlled crossover design. Seventy-three participants diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder ( Mage = 4:10 ± 1:0) were divided into two groups that received the dog training intervention during half of the school year in addition to standard-of-care interventions. The dog training intervention, in which the children were taught how to interact with and train dogs, was given twice weekly for 4 months within autism spectrum disorder–specific special education school. Those receiving the dog training intervention first showed significantly increased adaptive social and communication skills compared to the controls, and the gains were maintained after the dog training intervention. Belonging to the first dog training intervention group, higher pre-intervention adaptive skills, higher baseline cognitive ability, and less severe autism severity predicted better adaptive social and communication skills. The controls improved in adaptive skills only during their receipt of dog training intervention after crossover. The positive impact on social communication skills suggests that dog training may serve as an effective model for establishing social interaction. Dog training intervention appears to be an effective adjunct treatment to interventions provided in special education schools for children with autism spectrum disorder. Lay abstract There is some evidence that using therapy dogs for children with autism spectrum disorder generally results in improved social communication skills and reduced behavioral problems. However, well-controlled studies that examine its effectiveness are scarce. This study examined the effectiveness of a “Dog Training Intervention.” The study included 73 participants diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (61 males, 12 females) with age range of 2:10–7:6 years ( M = 4:10 ± 1:0) who attend autism spectrum disorder–specific special education schools. The study population was divided into two groups. Each group received the dog training intervention during one part of the school year (first half or second half) in addition to the standard interventions provided by the special education school settings. The dog training intervention was given twice weekly for 4 months within the school setting. The group that received the dog training intervention first showed a significant increase in adaptive social and communication skills in comparison to the second group that did not receive the intervention in this period. This improvement was maintained after the dog training intervention. The second group, which received intervention at the second half of the year, showed improvement in communication and socialization adaptive skills only during the period in which they received the dog training intervention. The positive impact on social communication adaptive skills of the dog training intervention among young children with autism spectrum disorder suggests that dogs may serve as an effective model for establishing social interaction. Dog training intervention appears to be an effective adjunct treatment to the interventions provided in special education schools for young children with autism spectrum disorder.

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“…For instance, robots such as KiliRo have been used to improve social interaction in patients with autism spectrum disorder [31]. A research studying the sociopsychological and physiological effects of using this robot showed a reduction in the stress levels [32]. The NAO robot has also been successfully employed in therapies to treat this illness [33].…”

Section: Related Work and Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Framework for User Adaptation and Profiling for Social Robotics in Rehabilitation

Martín

Pulido

González

et al. 2020

Sensors

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Physical rehabilitation therapies for children present a challenge, and its success—the improvement of the patient’s condition—depends on many factors, such as the patient’s attitude and motivation, the correct execution of the exercises prescribed by the specialist or his progressive recovery during the therapy. With the aim to increase the benefits of these therapies, social humanoid robots with a friendly aspect represent a promising tool not only to boost the interaction with the pediatric patient, but also to assist physicians in their work. To achieve both goals, it is essential to monitor in detail the patient’s condition, trying to generate user profile models which enhance the feedback with both the system and the specialist. This paper describes how the project NAOTherapist—a robotic architecture for rehabilitation with social robots—has been upgraded in order to include a monitoring system able to generate user profile models through the interaction with the patient, performing user-adapted therapies. Furthermore, the system has been improved by integrating a machine learning algorithm which recognizes the pose adopted by the patient and by adding a clinical reports generation system based on the QUEST metric.

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Sociopsychological and physiological effects of a robot-assisted therapy for children with autism

Cited by 22 publications

References 40 publications

A Systematic Review of Research on Robot-Assisted Therapy for Children with Autism

A Systematic Review of Research on Robot-Assisted Therapy for Children with Autism

Dog training intervention improves adaptive social communication skills in young children with autism spectrum disorder: A controlled crossover study

A Framework for User Adaptation and Profiling for Social Robotics in Rehabilitation

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