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. 2023 Jan;53(1):438-455.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-022-05429-x. Epub 2022 Jan 28.

Effects of Parental Involvement in Robot-Assisted Autism Therapy

Aida Amirova  1 , Nazerke Rakhymbayeva  2 , Aida Zhanatkyzy  2 , Zhansaule Telisheva  2 , Anara Sandygulova  3
Affiliations

Effects of Parental Involvement in Robot-Assisted Autism Therapy

Aida Amirova et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2023 Jan.

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.

Keywords: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Autism spectrum disorder; Human–Robot interaction; Parental presence; Robot-assisted therapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Experimental setup showcasing two conditions: with and without parents
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Measurements for each child for each session with significant results. Sessions with parents are labelled with a circle and sessions without parents are labelled with a cross (x) sign
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Measurements for each child at each session that did not produce significant results. Sessions with parents are labelled with a circle and sessions without parents are labelled with a cross (x) sign
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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