Children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are often plastered with the common label of being “low in their emotional quotient” or “incapable of social skills like empathy”. However, these labels are not reflective of the neurodivergence of autism. Modern technological tools have unlocked the potential in these children - we now see nonverbal children with assistive communication devices that they can tap to express their needs.

This article is about the first paper I wrote in college, on robotic autism therapy. I use ideas in developmental psychology to explain why robots have great potential in autism therapy.

Maja Mataric’s SARs #

Mataric is a researcher working on Socially-Assistive Robots (SARs). SARs are robots with a physical presence, and capable of social interaction. Notably, she believes that SARs are meant to be personalised for their owners.

The Neurotypical Development of Theory of Mind (ToM) #

Theory of Mind (ToM) #

ToM is the ability to understand that others have a mind of their own, which means their own intentions and emotions. For instance, I can feel happy without you concurrently feeling happy. Similarly, I can have desires like travelling to Japan without you also having these desires. In short, our mental states are independent.

For a child to receive instruction, they would need to understand that the intentions of the adults guiding them. In the example of pouring water, the adult might have intentions like not spilling the water all over the floor. Tomasello writes about the cognitive development of children, and illustrated the following ideas.

Children with autism are often thought to have a delayed development of Theory of Mind (ToM) skills.

Developmental Psychology #

Michael Tomasello (1999) brings out two key ideas in how children need to learn. Firstly, adults play an active instructional role in how children learn. Secondly, learning involves children participating in their cultural environment.

Dissertation #

My claim is that the robots help children with autism in two ways.

1. Children may learn to interpret the thoughts of their personal robot 2. Children may be guided by the robot in interpreting other people’s thoughts

In particular, we know that Theory of Mind development usually occurs in the presence of a mentor the child feels comfortable with. In neurotypical environments, this would refer to the primary caregivers of a child.

Yet, we know that children with autism prefer interacting with robots because robots have simpler and more predictable behaviour. Personalised robots (SARs) are more equipped to then form emotional connections with these children. SARs can then parallel the role of parents in the development of neurotypical children, giving them great potential in autism therapy.

Remarks #

Robots and AI stand at the forefront of how we understand cognition. The ideas in this article are curtly presented, but I would strongly recommend giving my paper a read.

The essay can be found here, alongside a powerpoint presentation here.