Events
Class Acts Online Talks: Robots as Mentors for Children with Autism
5 May 2020
4:00pm
Professor Catherine SoAssociate ProfessorDepartment of Educational Psychology
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterized by impairments in relating and communicating to others. It is recommended that individuals with ASD should learn in highly structured learning environments. The use of social robots in educating children with autism represents radical innovations in the application of technology in medicine and special needs education. Social robots, operating within predictable and lawful systems, manifest an encouraging learning environment amongst individuals with ASD, while reducing the need for human instructors to repeat themselves excessively. Empirical evidence generated from intervention studies supported that social robots can reduces autism severity and increases social and behavioral functioning of 3-18-year-olds with ASD. This talk will introduce the application of social robots in treating autism and summarize the empirical research on their effectiveness.
