Social Robots as Mediators for Social Story Intervention: Can the Robot Probo Encourage Children with ASD to Ask Questions During Playtime?

This chapter will present our research into the potential synergetic effect of two intervention approaches, social stories and social robots used as mediators in the therapy process. It was investigated whether or not the strengths of the social robot Probo could increase the efficiency of a Social Story intervention. Therefore, a key component of the chapter will exemplify the clinical use of robots in a Social Story intervention in ASD children aiming to improve social skills during playtime (i.e. asking questions during playtime, asking help, asking permission to play with a toy, sharing toys). For this purpose, a critical overview of the outcomes of our Probo studies will be presented. In these studies (Vanderborght et al., 2012; Simut et al., 2011, Pop et al., submitted), the performances of ASD children were compared in three different conditions: (1) social story read by a therapist; (2) social stories told by the robot; and (3) social story intervention delivered through a computer. The results showed the superiority of social story intervention assisted by the robot Probo, compared to the social story read by a human therapist, but no differences between the robot and computer conditions. The chapter will conclude with a focus on the outcomes and the limitations of our studies, and also on future developments and implications for the clinical use of social robots as peers during playtime.