Robotics could be a big step in autism therapy, but stumbling blocks remain
Using interactive robots to help children with autism has met with some success, but concerns remain about the ethics of the therapy and its high cost, writes Clara Chow
Seven years ago, robotics researcher Dr John-John Cabibihan was babysitting his 15-month-old daughter Marie, when, on a whim, he decided to see how she would react if he plonked a robot in front of her. Even though Marie didn't have any developmental issues, he watched as she interacted curiously with the robot. Cabibihan's thoughts turned to using robots as a tool for working with children who do have developmental issues, specifically autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
People with ASD often have difficulty communicating, fail to respond to social cues, tend to repeat particular actions (walking in a specific pattern for example) and sometimes become preoccupied with certain objects.
Some of our students interact with NAO better and more comfortably than their teachers do
Cabibihan thought "that some day it might be possible for data to be obtained and be processed for the diagnosis and therapy of children with autism. And that a robot companion could be a non-intrusive tool to do this."
While he was at the National University of Singapore, Cabibihan and other researchers surveyed the use of robots in treating autistic children. The results, which were published last year in a paper titled "Why Robots?" in the International Journal of Social Robotics, showed how therapists introduced robots to children with autism and supervised them in free play as they examined, held eye contact with and imitated the facial expressions on the robot - sometimes even responding with glee.
The paper points out that social robots, which tap into the fascination children have with the machines, could help in diagnosing autism by tracking gaze patterns or checking the response to repetitive actions. Developments in social robotics are "getting to be exciting every year", Cabibihan says.
