Mapping Robotic Affordances with Pre-requisite Learning Interventions for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

For children with Autism Spectrum Disease (ASD), pre-requisite learning (PRL) skills are particularly important because they form the basis for acquiring other advanced cognitive skills. Globally, researchers have shown that robot-assisted therapy (RAT) can have several positive effects on children with ASD. However, previous researches have failed in clearly mapping the PRL skill training tasks and strategies to robot affordances. In this research, we foster a better understanding of the objectives of the PRL skills required for children with ASD and provide a mapping with robot affordances to execute PRL training activities. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions (N=25) with paediatricians, ASD therapists, and educators from three nonprofit organisations were conducted to understand the clinical practices for teaching PRL skills among children with ASD. Naturalistic observations were used to understand the exercise and training protocols implemented for improving PRL skills among children with ASD. Finally, clinical literature on robotic therapy and technical documents provided by the manufacturers were analysed for identifying commercially available robots and evaluating their features and affordances. Our analysis revealed that affordances offered by several commercially available robots could be effectively leveraged to develop Robot-Assisted Therapies (RATs) to improve PRL skills in children with ASD. Strategies and implications for developing RATs to improve PRL skills among children with ASD are also discussed.