Research: Social Training of Autistic Children with Interactive Intelligent Agents

Robots and technological toys may help teach social skills to children with autism.

Researchers used special blocks that worked like mini-robots. The blocks changed color depending on which other blocks they were close to. The blocks were used as a therapy tool with twelve children (3-5 years old) with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The children were taught specific rules about the blocks. One simpler game focused on interactions between blocks. The second game was more complex and used blocks for symbolic play. Some blocks were "animals" and some were "food" or "water" that children "gave" to animals by moving that block close to the animal block. Pairs of children worked together to make the "zoo" run smoothly. Children needed to learn to pretend a block was an animal or food. Most of the children learned the rules of the first game. Five out of six pairs of children worked well together in the second game. The authors said that if children with autism can understand how to play with a block as if it is food (metaphor), they may be able to learn more complex social skills.