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Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders pp 1–5Cite as

Robot-Assisted Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Definition

Robot-assisted therapy is a promising area of translational neuroscience for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The robot-assisted cognitive behavioral therapy (RA-CBT) is a robot-assisted therapy focused on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which shows promising evidence of efficacy and represents a viable intervention for children with ASD. This type of treatment consists of a human-assisted social robot acting as an intervention mediator to increase the emotional competence and to improve the socio-emotional understanding skills in children with ASD. RA-CBT can be used as a complementary therapy for ASD children with the potential to reduce the workload of the therapist and to improve the social skills.

Historical Background

Heterogeneity in clinical symptoms is the main characteristic of children with ASD, including high rates of comorbid medical conditions (e.g., sleep disorders, gastrointestinal dysfunction, autoimmune disorders), neurological conditions...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Messina, Italy

    Flavia Marino, Liliana Ruta, David Vagni, Gennaro Tartarisco & Giovanni Pioggia

  2. Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Mangone, Italy

    Antonio Cerasa

  3. S. Anna Institute and Research in Advanced Neurorehabilitation (RAN), Crotone, Italy

    Antonio Cerasa

Authors
  1. Flavia Marino
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  2. Liliana Ruta
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  3. David Vagni
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  4. Gennaro Tartarisco
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  5. Antonio Cerasa
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  6. Giovanni Pioggia
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giovanni Pioggia .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, USA

    Fred R. Volkmar

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Marino, F., Ruta, L., Vagni, D., Tartarisco, G., Cerasa, A., Pioggia, G. (2020). Robot-Assisted Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. In: Volkmar, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_102457-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_102457-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6435-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6435-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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