Autism and Robots
In our class this past week Sister Morse mentioned research being done recently to use robots in helping children with autism. This sparked interest in me, and so I decided to research it for my blog post this week.
I found an interesting video on the today show called “Can Robots Help Treat Autism?”. You can find and watch it at: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/30225368#30225368
I also found an article called “Robots to Fight Autism” at: http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-04/robots-fight-autism
When I first heard about robots being used to help children with autism I was slightly against it, but open to at least do the research and possibly change my mind. I thought that robot interaction would allow these children to become more and more comfortable with robots over time, but I did not see this leading to improved interaction with humans. After all, there is a huge difference between the two and autistic children are often described as robotic already. I worried that the technology was not really in line with the goal of helping these children become more social with other people. The whole topic really made me think back to the balance between technology, pedagogy, and content. I was skeptical that with the robot technology these three things would have good balance. My standpoint before my research was that you would not see a correlation between improved interaction with robots and improved interaction with humans.
It is a good thing I am not too stubborn of a person because after I watched this video and read the article my view has at least been shaken. I was grateful that my concern was addressed in both the video and article. With the evidence given in both it is obvious to me that robots have been beneficial to these children. It is amazing the increase in their speech and interaction with humans because of the interaction with the robots first. The most impressive example of this, in my opinion was the description of the little girl in the article. Although she began not wanting to have anything to do with the robot, she slowly became more and more used to it, eventually becoming quite affectionate. There was a flaw in this example however because it never mentions an increase in human social interaction to correspond to the increase in robot interaction. There was however convincing evidence in the video with the graph of proven increase in verbal expression due to robot interaction.
While I was once skeptical about this use of technology to help children with autism, I am now in agreement that with more research and testing robots could be beneficial. I do not think robots are ready to be implemented as a therapy yet, but perhaps sometime soon. I also would love to have more research done on these robots being able to tell the emotions of children with autism. I can say from personal experience that it is often difficult to know how a child with autism is feeling, and what caused those emotions. This could be very helpful in teaching strategies.
I would like to know your opinion before and after reading the article and watching the video. Do you believe robots being used as therapies are a good thing, or do you think that the use of robots is counterintuitive? Please explain why.
In order to draw a complete conclusion I would have to do a little bit more research of how the children react with humans after their interactions with the robots. With out doing this though, I think that it is a good idea. If the robots got maybe gradually more human looking and more realistic then maybe it would help children with autism to be able to communicate better with other human beings. I don't think that it could make the child's situation worse since they are already reserved, but it would help them praccitce their communication skills.
ReplyDeleteI too was initially skeptical of this idea. Why would robots be any different than people? I had not even thought about children who have autism as robotic themselves, although that does make sense, instead I thought that it cannot be good to form attachments to an object that is not alive especially with an object that can interact. This could lead to a bond that cannot be transferred to humans. After reading the article and watching the video it became a bit more clear to me. It makes sense to use a technology that is less threatening for the student. There is less to think about because the emotions are much simpler and easier to understand. Also there is no real obligation to converse which could pressure the child and cause them to not try to speak. The only concern I have is there is no evidence that the child will be able to transfer those emotions to people. If this can either be remedied or proven an incorrect idea than I think it is a great idea to open the door to socialization for children with autism.
ReplyDeleteFrom the reading and the video I think robots can be very helpful to children with Autism. I feel like it is anything else for when a child learns you start small and simple and then slowly work your way up. So, I think it is possible that the robot is the small and simple way for children with ASD to start. Then they work their way up to talking more with their own parents and eventually maybe they will reach the level of being more social with children their age, their peers. It is incredible how technology has come to be so productive and helpful in so many areas but especially with children with disabilities. I found very interesting in the video when it showed the robot/basketball hoop that could read how the children were feeling and adjust to those feelings. If children with autism have a robot with those capabilities then it would be able to keep the child comfortable instead of creating anxiety. Overall, yes I believe that robots could be very helpful and a good therapy for children with ASD.
ReplyDeleteBefore watching the video and reading the article, I did not feel as if using robots for therapies was a good thing. I felt that if the goal of these therapies was to increase the child’s ability to relate to other people and communicate somewhat effectively, teaching them to interact with a robot would only further isolating them from the real world. After watching the video, I was able to see how autistic children were actually interested in the robots and investigating but I still feel as if this technique is going in the wrong direction. We want them to be able to form relationships and secure bases with people, not robots and technology. It was stated in the video regarding autistic children that “only when you can engage them, can you teach them” which is very true so in this sense I can see the advantage of using robots to capture the child’s interest and begin teaching various things. The article gave evidence of interaction with robots increasing social behaviors and cues towards the robot and eventually out to other people. I can see some advantages of initiating the use of this technology in some therapies but I still believe that human interaction is irreplaceable and should not be traded out for too much training with technology.
ReplyDeleteI have never been a huge fan of having children interact with robots. When a child spends a large enough amount of time with a robot to start forming an emotional relationship with it, it can give the child a false impression of how normal human to human interaction works. After reading the article though and watching the video clip, I too was swayed in my opinion. I think that for a child with Autism the most important things to focus on are the fundamentals of interaction. From the video, I could see how these robots can allow the children to express affection and interaction without feeling intimidated. And I think that this is a wonderful starting place for children to expand on their relationship skills. I think if a robot is helpful for the development of the child, it's a good thing to use in a therapy setting.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great idea. I don't see much wrong with this, though I do acknowledge that it would be a slight concern that the children may get used to a robot, and then it not help children communicate with humans. I personally think it's a great way for children to learn how to interact with people, and it can be used as a baby step to help them because while humans are so unpredictable, robots like this one can be very controlled and the child can learn to predict what it will do. It's like a toy for them, and play time can be a great way for children to learn practical skills. I also really loved the story about the girl in the article and how she started dressing it and kissing it, which sounded incredible since she rarely even kissed her own mother. It would be interesting to see how she interacted with her mother in later years, after "robot therapy" was used. I think it'd be a great way for the basics of communication to be introduced and to help the child not be so intimidated by interactions. So my opinion is a definite yes, robots should be researched more in their use for helping children with autism so that they could be used in therapy for them.
ReplyDeleteBefore I read the article I wasn't sure what the purpose of the robot was. I had heard that it was supposed to help with communication. Before I read the article I thought that having robots help children with autism communicate better with people is a great idea. However, after reading the article, and knew more about it, my mind changed a little bit. I still am not against robots completely, but I don't agree with the idea that the children can become emotionally attached to this robot. I don't think it's healthy to let that happen. There's not much evidence supporting better communication with humans and I can see the new robot technology having more of a negative consequences than positive. What if the child just becomes attached to the robot? It didn't help with human communication and now the child has an emotional connection with something that doesn't have the abilities to reciprocate. That said, I still would have to research this more to have a sound opinion on the matter.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion is that using robotics to help children ASD is a very positive thing, but like all things, the researchers must be careful of where to draw the line and the end goal of the research. From the article and the video, it seems as if the researchers have the end goal as helping those with ASD to become more social. I agree with them on using robots to learn new strategies and to learn how someone with ASD is feeling and when those types of feelings tend to come. This would be vital to all those who are involved in the lives of those who have ASD. I can see better and more effective strategies coming from these experiments. I also agree that robots can help those with ASD become more social, but there may be a problem. Liz stated at the beginning of her blog that she was worried about robots taking over the role of humans and transferring the social interactiveness from the robot to a human. That is also the only concern that I have. I am afraid that because those with ASD would be around robots more often, they may become comfortable only around the robot and not around other human beings. I feel that this fear can be overcome if the researchers keep in mind the end goal of helping those with ASD become more socially interactive. I say that using robots is worth a shot, but if we find that it hurts more than helps then we should get rid of it.
ReplyDeleteI felt pretty unsure about this idea when I initially read the title and heard Sister Morse discussing it. After viewing the video and the reading, I can honestly say that I feel it will benefit individuals with autism. While there is a risk in it limiting the possible human to human interaction, I feel that it could also be a lead into that, a steadier and less steep approach for human to human communication. While I support the idea of this being a tool to inhibit communication skills, I think it should be ONLY that. There is a fine line between the robot helping communication, and becoming an emotional attachment for the individual. We as educators, and those testing this technology was be weary of that happening and take measures to prevent it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I heard that robots were being used as therapies for children with autism I was actually pretty interested in learning more about it. Before reading the article i wasn’t really sure if robots could help because I felt that human interactions is more important than robots. After watching the video and reading the article I feel that these robots can help children with autism. I am still skeptical about it truly helping with human to human interaction because a robot, no matter how much it looks like a human, is still not human. I think it is wonderful how these robots are trying to help bring out the social skills. I really liked when the reporter said that these robots have a lot of offer and having something to offer children with autism is better than having nothing to offer at all. For me to better understand these robots I would like to look at more studies and videos to see other results that have taken place.
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