C-Hg: A Collaborative Haptic-Gripper Fine Motor Skill Training System for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Computer-assisted systems can provide efficient and engaging ASD intervention environments for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, most existing computer-assisted systems target only one skill deficit (e.g., social conversation skills) and ignore the importance of other areas, such as motor skills, that could also impact social interaction. This focus on a single domain may hinder the generalizability of learned skills to real-world scenarios, because the targeted teaching strategies do not reflect that real-world tasks often involve more than one skill domain. The work presented in this article seeks to bridge this gap by developing a Collaborative Haptic-gripper virtual skill training system (C-Hg). This system includes individual and collaborative games that provide opportunities for simultaneously practicing both fine motor skills (hand movement and grip control skills) as well as social skills (communication and collaboration) and investigating how they relate to each other. We conducted a usability study with 10 children with ASD and 10 Typically Developing (TD) children (8–12 years), who used C-Hg to play a series of individual and collaborative games requiring differing levels of motor and communication skill. Results revealed that participant performance significantly improved in both individual and collaborative fine motor skill training tasks, including significant improvements in collaborative manipulations between partners. Participants with ASD were found to conduct more collaborative manipulations and initiate more conversations with their partners in the post collaborative tasks, suggesting more active collaboration and communication of participants with ASD in the collaborative tasks. Results support the potential of our C-Hg system for simultaneously improving fine motor and social skills, with implications for impacts of improved fine motor skills on social outcomes.