Socially-Assistive Robots to Enhance Learning for Secondary Students with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism

Abstract

For some time now, researchers have explored the use of social robots as tools to assist during therapy and education for children with intellectual disabilities and autism. Although encouraging results suggest that robots can be beneficial, there has been minimal progress in integrating this technology as formal tools to supplement therapy and education. A significant reason behind this is that the benefits of using robots have been demonstrated primarily in short-term case studies, with very few demonstrations over large samples. This study explores the impact of a prolonged exposure to socially-assistive robots in an education context with secondary students with intellectual disabilities and autism. The evaluation was carried out 24 months after the introduction of two different robots into the disability unit from a public secondary school. Participants responded positively toward the use of robots at the school, and would recommend other schools to use them as well. Benefits, challenges, and limitations of the robots are discussed.