Robot-Mediated Social Skill Intervention Programme for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An ABA Time-Series Study
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Robot-Mediated Social Skill Intervention Programme for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An ABA Time-Series Study Eva Yin-han Chung1 Accepted: 10 September 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present limitations in social communication and social interaction at home, in school, and in community contexts. Teaching and intervention programmes that use humanoid robots have been developing rapidly to improve the social functioning of children with ASD. This study evaluated the effectiveness of using a social robot to enhance the social skills of children with ASD. An ABA time-series analysis was used to examine the effects of the social robot on the social skills of children with ASD over 12 weeks. The study recruited 15 children with ASD from mainstream schools. A series of baseline measurements was taken at different time points in the pre-intervention phase, during which the children received social skill training from a human instructor only. In the intervention phase, the robot was integrated into the training programme to assist the instructor in conducting structured interactive social games, story-based activities, and singing or dancing activities. In the generalisation phase, the session switched back to the original training mode without the robot. The results of visual analysis and Tau-U analysis confirmed that the robotic educational programme was effective in improving the eye contact (in frequency and duration) and verbal initiation of the children with the human instructor. The improvement of the children was sustained even after the withdrawal of the robot in the generalisation phase. These implications on the practice and future development of using social robots for social skill training are discussed in this paper. Keywords Robot · Autism · Social skill training · Time-series analysis
1 Introduction Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental condition that implies limitations in a person’s social interaction and social communication that is often characterised by restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviour [1]. Children with high-functioning autism (HFA) are more keenly aware of difficulties they encounter when interacting with peers. Children with HFA have intelligence and language ability within a normal functional range. During social interactions, children with HFA often experience difficulties in initiating and responding to conversation, interpreting nonverbal cues, initiating and maintaining eye contact, exhibiting appropriate emotional reactions, and using nonverbal behaviour [2]. They may lack orientation towards a social stimulus and empathy
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Eva Yin-han Chung [email protected] Department of Special Education and Counseling, The Education University of Hong Kong, 10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong
towards others’ distress [3]. They may find themselves isolated and rejected or even bullied at school, which may result in low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression. Social skill interventions aim to
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