Abstract
Parental involvement in traditional autism therapy is key to the effective treatment of children with ASD. Little is known about parental involvement in robot-assisted autism therapy (RAAT)—novel therapeutic support for children with ASD. Our study investigates the effect of parental presence on multiple-session RAAT conducted with 16 children with ASD. They interacted with the social robot in the presence or absence of their parents. We measured children's socio-behavioral outcomes and conducted semi-structured interviews with parents. Parents did not necessarily affect the children's outcomes during the interventions. However, children’s autism-related symptoms resulted in different socio-behavioral outcomes between sessions with and without parents. Most parents have reported positive changes in their children's behaviors when interacting with the robot.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 438-455 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2023 |
Funding
This work was supported by the Nazarbayev University Collaborative Research Program grant (award number is 091019CRP2107).
Keywords
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
- Autism spectrum disorder
- Human–Robot interaction
- Parental presence
- Robot-assisted therapy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Developmental and Educational Psychology