The Efficacy of Robot-enhanced Therapy for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Summary

This trial will test the efficacy of robot-enhanced interventions for developing social skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The study will compare, in an equivalence design, an innovative intervention delivered by a semi-autonomous robotic agent with standard behavioral intervention. The target group is children between 3 and 6 years old which will be randomly allocated to one of the two treatments. Each treatment will be delivered over 8 bi-weekly sessions of 45 minutes each.

Conditions

• Autistic Disorders Spectrum

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

(2) robot--enhanced intervention

The tasks included in the treatment follow a structured behavioral approach, called the discrete trial training (DTT). The learning process is guided by the robotic agent (Softbank Robotics Nao robot). All activities follow a gameplay scenario and they take place at a table, which in the case of joint attention and turn taking tasks incorporates a large touchscreen. Each behavior presented to the child is preceded by instructions and followed by a contingent reinforcement. The contingent reinforcement and prompting are used to train each targeted behavior/action. The behaviors are presented over multiple and successive trials and explicit prompting is giving when the child doesn't succeed to accomplish the targeted behavior. Each action is repeated three times. For every child, the intervention for each ability starts from the level determined in the first two sessions, but as the child's performance improves, the task moves to a more complex level.

BEHAVIORAL

(1) discrete trial training / cognitive-behavior therapy

The tasks included in the treatment follow a structured behavioral approach, called the discrete trial training (DTT). The learning process is guided by an interaction partner (human), under the supervision of the therapist. All activities follow a gameplay scenario and they take place at a table, which in the case of joint attention and turn taking tasks incorporates a large touchscreen. Each behavior presented to the child is preceded by instructions and followed by a contingent reinforcement. The contingent reinforcement and prompting are used to train each targeted behavior/action. The behaviors are presented over multiple and successive trials and explicit prompting is giving when the child doesn't succeed to accomplish the targeted behavior. Each action is repeated three times. For every child, the intervention for each ability starts from the level determined in the first two sessions, but as the child's performance improves, the task moves to a more complex level.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Skövde

  collaborator OTHER

• Vrije Universiteit Brussel

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Plymouth

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Portsmouth

  collaborator OTHER

• De Montfort University

  collaborator OTHER

• SoftBank Robotics

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Babes-Bolyai University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

3 Years

Max Age

6 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-03-01

Primary Completion

2018-12-31

Completion

2018-12-31

Countries

• Romania

Study Locations