1 Robotic Assistants in Therapy and Education of C

1RoboticAssistantsinTherapyandEducationofChildrenwithAutism:CanaSmallHumanoidRobotHelpEncourageSocialInteractionSkills?B.Robins,K.Dautenhahn,R.teBoekhorst,andA.BillardAbstractThisarticlepresentsalongitudinalstudywithfourchildrenwithautismwhowereexposedtoahumanoidrobotoveraperiodofseveralmonths.Thelongitudinalapproachallowedthechildrentimetoexplorethespaceofrobot-human,aswellashuman-humaninteraction.Basedonthevideomaterialdocumentingtheinteractions,aquantitativeaswellasqualitativeanalysiswasconducted.Thequantitativeanalysisshowedanincreaseindurationofpre-definedbehaviourstowardsthelatertrials.Aqualitativeanalysisofthevideodata,observingthechildren’sactivitiesintheirinteractionalcontext,revealedfurtheraspectsofsocialinteractionskills(imitation,turn-takingandrole-switch)andcommunicativecompetencethatthechildrenshowed.Theresultsclearlydemonstratetheneedforandbenefitsoflong-termstudiesinordertorevealthefullpotentialofrobotsinthetherapyandeducationofchildrenwithautism.Keywords:autismtherapy,longitudinalstudy,roboticassistant,imitation,socialinteraction.1IntroductionTheworkdescribedinthisarticle2ispartoftheAuroraprojectwhichinvestigatesthepotentialuseofrobotsastherapeuticoreducational‘toys’specificallybychildrenwithautism[2].Thisapproachisbasedonfindingsthatpeoplewithautismenjoyandbenefitfrominteractionswithcomputerizedsystems(seebelow).Inthisarticlewepresentalongitudinalstudywithfourchildrenwithautismwhowererepeatedlyexposedtoahumanoidrobotoveraperiodofseveralmonths,usingbasicimitativeandturntakinggames.Ouraimwastoencourageimitationandsocialinteractionskills.Differentbehaviouralcriteria(includingEyeGaze,Touch,NearandImitation)wereevaluatedbasedonthevideodataoftheinteractions.Theresultsclearlydemonstratethecrucialneedforlong-termstudiesinordertorevealthefullpotentialofrobotsintherapyandeducationofchildrenwithautism.1.1AutismAutismherereferstothetermAutisticSpectrumDisorderswitharangeofmanifestationsofadisorderthatcanoccurtodifferentdegreesandinavarietyofforms[21].Theexactcauseorcausesofautismis/arestillunknown.Autismisalifelongdevelopmentaldisabilitythataffectsthewayapersoncommunicatesandrelatestopeoplearoundthem.Peoplewithautismoftenhaveaccompanyinglearningdisabilities3.Themainimpairmentsthatarecharacteristicofpeoplewithautism,accordingtotheNationalAutisticSociety[30],areimpairedsocialinteraction,socialcommunicationandimagination(referredtobymanyauthorsasthetriadofimpairments,e.g.[52]):1B.Robins,K.Dautenhahn,R.teBoekhorst,andA.Billard,RoboticAssistantsinTherapyandEducationofChildrenwithAutism:CanaSmallHumanoidRobotHelpEncourageSocialInteractionSkills?SpecialissueDesignforamoreinclusiveworldoftheinternationaljournalUniversalAccessintheInformationSociety(UAIS),Springer-Verlag,inpress.2ThisarticleisanexpandedversionofapaperpresentedattheCambridgeWorkshoponUniversalAccessandAssistiveTechnology(CWUAAT)inMarch2004[36].3FordetaileddiagnosticcriteriathereaderisreferredtoDSM-IV,theDiagnosticandStatisticalManualofMentalDisorders,AmericanPsychiatricAssociation,(1995).2B.Robins,KDautenhahn,R.teBoekhorstandA.Billarda)Impairmentsinsocialinteraction–thisreferstoaninabilitytorelatetoothersinmeaningfulways.Itcomprisesadifficultyinformingsocialrelationshipsandanimpairmentinunderstandingothers’intentions,feelingsandmentalstates.Forapersonwithautismitisperfectlyreasonabletoanswerafriend’squestion“Howdoyoulikethecolorofmynewcar?”withe.g.“Ithinkthecolorisawful”.b)Impairmentsinsocialcommunication-includingverbalandnon-verbalcommunication.Thismanifestsitselfe.g.indifficultiesinunderstandinggestureandfacialexpressions,andadifficultyinunderstandingmetaphorsorother‘non-literal’interpretationsofverbalandnon-verballanguage(forexample,forapersonwithautismthemostreasonableanswertothequestion“DoyouknowwhereIcanfindthetrainstation?”islikelytobeeither“Yes,Ido.”or“No,Idon’t”,illustratinganinabilitythatwhatpeoplesayordoneedstobeinterpretedwithrespecttotheperson’sintentional,motivationalandemotionalstates.c)Impairmentsinimaginationandfantasy–thedevelopmentofplayandimaginationactivitiesislimited.Forexample,childrenwithautismdonotgetengagedinrole-playorpretendplay(e.g.pretendingtobeaprincess,aknightorfootballstar)asintenselyastypicallydevelopingchildren.Moreover,peoplewithautismshowlittlereciprocaluseofeye-contactandrarelygetengagedininteractivegames.Generally,autismaffectsmoremalesthanfemales[30].Theabovementionedimpairmentscanleadtoasubstantiallydecreasedprobabilityofbeingabletoleadanindependentlife.Evenhigh-functioningpeoplewithautismmightencountergreatdifficultiesinlearningtheeveryday‘socialrules’thatguideourlives,includinganunderstandingofhumor,whitelies,anddeception,seeexamplesof‘mind-readingerrors’givenin[19]andfirst-personaccount’sofTempleGrandin,e.g.in[15].1.2ImitationandtheCaseofAutismImitationplaysanimportantpartinsociallearningbothinchildrenandadults.Frombirth,imitationplaysacriticalroleinthedevelopmentofsocialcognitionandcommunicationskills,helpinganinfantinforginglinkswithotherpeople[29].Imitationandturntakinggamesareusedintherapytopromo