“It looks useful, works just fine, but will it replace me ?" Understanding Special Educators’ Perception of Social Robots for Autism Care in India

Abstract

Social robots, particularly in assisting children with autism, have exhibited positive impacts on mental health. While prior studies concentrated on social robots in the Global North, there’s limited exploration in the Global South. It’s essential to comprehend special educators’ perspectives for effective integration in resource-constrained settings. Our mixed-methods approach, involving interviews, workshops, and a panel discussion with 25 educators in India, uncovers challenges and opportunities in integrating social robots into autism interventions. The findings highlight the urgent need to democratise the benefits of social robotics. Special educators express concerns about their functional capacity and fear potential redundancy due to the replacement of human efforts by social robots. Despite initial scepticism, professionals suggest various ways to incorporate social robots, emphasising the importance of technological innovation in reshaping and enhancing their roles in autism therapy. We discuss the implications of these findings for developing context-aware solutions and policy-level initiatives necessary in resource-constrained settings.