Humanoid Robot-Mediated Communication Teaching for Children With ASD

Abstract

In special education, the use of tablet devices and personal computers has been practiced. The ease of access to ICT hardware and software for children with disabilities and their families is welcome in terms of increased learning opportunities and leisure options for children with developmental disabilities. In this chapter, the examples of children with ASD who have improved their communication skills through the use of some ICTs are presented. An ASD child who was overly afraid of talking to people and overly avoided failing in public were taught communication through programming into a humanoid robot. As a result, they used the robot as a step and eventually collaborated with friends to program a dance and presented the dance with the robot and classmate at a school festival. Finally, the effectiveness and challenges for the future use of ICT in teaching communication with ASD children were described.