BLISS: Using Robot in Learning Intervention to Promote Social Skills for Autism Therapy

Abstract

Robots have been introduced for autism therapy. However, most robotics studies focused on providing means of practice with dyadic interaction activities. To live in the society, autistic children need social interaction skills. In this study, we developed a mobile robot with non-threatening facial expression and investigated the potential of using this robot in triadic interaction activity for autism therapy to promote social interaction in children with autism. From the experiment that subjects play a picture matching game, it can be indicated that the robot can attract children with autism. Subjects can learn and understand the rule with their parents' participation. They could learn the name of the object in the picture that they do not know before as well. Some parents found that the robot could aid them in training their children. Autism specialists discovered some capabilities that they have never observed from the subjects in their therapeutic sessions. Therefore, this robot could be useful for autism specialists in finding aptitudes of children with autism in order to provide suitable intervention for effective therapy. This robot could be helpful for parents/caregivers in conducting therapeutic activities at home (continuing after therapeutic session with specialists) for even more effective therapy.