The impact of robotic intervention on joint attention in children with autism spectrum disorders.
Hirokazu Kumazaki, Yuichiro Yoshikawa, Yuko Yoshimura and 10 others
PMID 30202508WHAT IT FOUND
Children with autism showed more joint attention when prompted by a small robot with moving eyes than by a person in a brief lab task.
After the robot session, some also improved with a person. This was a brief session, not therapy.
Key findings
01In children with ASD, joint attention was better with the robot than with a human agent.
02After interacting with the robot, children with ASD showed better joint attention during a later interaction with a human.
038 of 16 children with ASD in the robot group improved from the first to the third session, and none worsened.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study tested one brief session, so it does not show how children respond over repeated therapy sessions. The joint attention outcome was measured with paper images in a room, so it does not show whether gains transfer to daily communication. The children had average cognitive skills, so the results may not apply to children with lower or higher functioning. Two children with ASD in the control group dropped because of distress, which may affect the ASD control comparison.
Declared interests
The work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the ERATO ISHIGURO Symbiotic Human-Robot Interaction Project, and the Center of Innovation Program from JST.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that robot-assisted therapy improves communication over time. The study tested one brief lab interaction, and the authors state they have no evidence that gains generalise to daily life.