Development of skills in children with ASD using a robotic platform

• Author(s): Silva, Sara Isabel Azevedo da ; Oliveira, Filomena ; Costa, Sandra ; Pereira, Ana Paula da Silva ; Moreira, Fátima
• Date: 2012
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/26037
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): Autism spectrum disorders; Lego Mindstorms NXT; Assistive robotics
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

The interaction and communication skills are essential to live in society. However, individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have a gap in these abilities which affects their daily life. Previous studies suggest that children with ASD demonstrate some positive behaviors in presence of a robotic platform. This study intends to evaluate the effect of a robotic platform on children with ASD, checking if the platform can be a stimulating agent for children's interaction, as well as a skill learning promoter. So, it is used the robot Lego Mindstorms NXT as a mediator/reward to encourage children with ASD to interact with others and also to learn some cognitive skills.