Effectiveness of Robotic Intervention on Improving Social Development and Participation of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder – A Randomised Controlled Trial

Evidence-based robotic intervention programmes for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been limited. As yet, there is insufficient evidence to inform therapists, teachers, and service providers on effectiveness of robotic intervention to enhance social development and participation of children with ASD in a real context. This study used a randomised controlled trial to test the efficacy of robotic intervention programmes in enhancing the social development and participation of children with ASD. 60 children with ASD were included. The participants were randomly assigned to the following groups: (1) robotic intervention programme (n = 20), (2) human-instructed programme (n = 20), and (3) control group (n = 20). Both the performance-based behavioural change in social communication and parent-reported change in social responsiveness were evaluated. The participants in the robotic intervention group demonstrated statistically significant changes in both the performance-based assessment and parent-reported change in social participation. Significant differences were found in the communication and reciprocal social interactions scores between the experimental group and the control and comparison groups in the performance-based assessment (p < 0.01). The effectiveness of robotic intervention programme to enhance the social communication and participation was confirmed. Future studies may also consider adding a maintenance phase to document how the effects of the intervention carry over to the participants over a longer period. (Clinical trial number: NCT04879303; Date of registration: 10 May 2021).