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Social Robots as Co-Therapists in Autism Therapy Sessions: A Single-Case Study

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Social Robotics (ICSR 2015)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 9388))

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Abstract

This study aimed to explore the potential value of a humanoid robot, NAO, in assisting the therapist during therapy sessions with children in the autism spectrum (ASD). We report findings from a single case, a 10-year old boy, Joe (pseudonym), diagnosed with high functioning ASD. The intervention was conducted in four consecutive therapy sessions with Joe during which Joe played the “Animals Game” with NAO and the therapist. In this game, NAO asked Joe to find a specific animal from a deck of cards. Numerical data demonstrated Joe’s progress across sessions in terms of discriminating the animals from images and learning the animals in English. Additionally, based on qualitative observations, we have evidence of Joe becoming more independent from session to session, initiating interaction with NAO, directing his gaze and expressing affective feelings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cyprus Interaction Lab, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus

    Andri Ioannou, Iosif Kartapanis & Panayiotis Zaphiris

Authors
  1. Andri Ioannou
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  2. Iosif Kartapanis
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  3. Panayiotis Zaphiris
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andri Ioannou .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Robotics and Computer Vision Lab, ENSTA-ParisTech, Palaiseau, France

    Adriana Tapus

  2. Inst für Informatik, Human-Ctr Multimedi, Universität Augsburg, Augsburg, Bayern, Germany

    Elisabeth André

  3. LIMSI-CNRS, Orsay, France

    Jean-Claude Martin

  4. Robotics and Computer Vision Lab, ENSTA-ParisTech, Palaiseau, France

    François Ferland

  5. LIMSI-CNRS, Orsay, France

    Mehdi Ammi

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Ioannou, A., Kartapanis, I., Zaphiris, P. (2015). Social Robots as Co-Therapists in Autism Therapy Sessions: A Single-Case Study. In: Tapus, A., André, E., Martin, JC., Ferland, F., Ammi, M. (eds) Social Robotics. ICSR 2015. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9388. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25554-5_26

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25554-5_26

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-25553-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-25554-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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