https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10846-023-01872-9

Abstract

An array of developmental disorders known collectively as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that can cause significant social interaction, communication, and behavioral challenges. To remedy this autistic impact at its very early stage, researchers are focusing their attention on robotics research with humanoid robots. It has been claimed that under certain circumstances, children with ASD (CwASD) interact more actively and spontaneously with robots than humans. Therefore, Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) has become a beneficial approach in training CwASD to abate their autism disabilities. This paper extensively reviews the prior findings on HRI for CwASD. With some critical analysis, a couple of findings have been highlighted to address the research gaps on the effectiveness of the intervention sessions administered by the robots. A total of nine traits of autism, intervention sessions administered by various tasks, different types of robots used, number of CwASD’s along with their age, diagnosis methods applied to quantify the autism levels, and, finally, the outcomes with identified research gaps have been analyzed. With some comparative depictions, the reader can visualize the broad scenario and overall research condition of robot-assisted training (RAT) for CwASD. This review recommends employing robots in supervised applications to enhance therapeutic effectiveness, broaden acquiescence, and inspire trust among practitioners, CwASD, and guardians. Overall, RAT is a promising use for intelligent social robots, especially for helping CwASD achieve therapeutic and educational goals. We expect interdisciplinary collaboration to address its difficulties quickly.

Citation: Islam, M.A., Hasan, M.M. & Deowan, S.A. Robot-Assisted Training for
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Review. J Intell Robot Syst 108, 41
(2023).

Open access article: https://www.wjgnet.com/2219-2808/full/v12/i1/1.htm

Abstract
Play is a pleasurable physical or mental activity that enhances the child’s skills involving negotiation abilities, problem-solving, manual dexterity, sharing, decision-making, and working in a group. Play affects all the brain's areas, structures, and functions. Children with autism have adaptive behavior, adaptive response, and social interaction limitations. This review explores the different applications of play therapy in helping children with autism disorder. Play is usually significantly impaired in children with autism. Play therapy is mainly intended to help children to honor their unique mental abilities and developmental levels. The main aim of play therapy is to prevent or solve psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal child-healthy growth and development. Play therapy helps children with autism to engage in play activities of their interest and choice to express themselves in the most comfortable ways. It changes their way of self-expression from unwanted behaviors to more non-injurious expressive behavior using toys or activities of their choice as their words. Play therapy also helps those children to experience feeling out various interaction styles. Every child with autism is unique and responds differently. Therefore, different types of intervention, like play therapy, could fit the differences in children with autism. Proper evaluation of the child is mandatory to evaluate which type fits the child more than the others. This narrative review revised the different types of play therapy that could fit children with autism in an evidence-based way. Despite weak evidence, play therapy still has potential benefits for patients and their families.<br/ ><br/ >Elbeltagi R, Al-Beltagi M, Saeed NK, Alhawamdeh R. Play therapy in children with autism: Its role, implications, and limitations. World J Clin Pediatr 2023; 12(1): 1-22 [PMID: 36685315 DOI: 10.5409/wjcp.v12.i1.1]

Citation: Elbeltagi R, Al-Beltagi M, Saeed NK, Alhawamdeh R. Play therapy in
children with autism: Its role, implications, and limitations. World J Clin
Pediatr 2023; 12(1): 1-22

Open access article: (https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/4/474)

Abstract
Parents of autistic children experience high levels of parental stress and low quality of life related to the demanding child caring burden they experience. Parent education and training programs are acknowledged to improve parental well-being and reduce parenting stress. In the framework of the Erasmus+ Integrative Autism Parents Training Project (IPAT), we developed the IPAT Training Module based on parents’ expressed needs, in order to improve parental quality of life (QoL) and decrease their perceived stress. Sixty-two parents from four countries participated in the IPAT Module Training activity. We used WHOQOL-BREF and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10 version) for QoL and stress, respectively, before and after training and a study-specific questionnaire to assess participants’ satisfaction. Parents’ QoL improved significantly in the environment domain and specific items, while stress levels remained unmodified. Training appeared more advantageous for parents with lower initial QoL and those whose child had been enrolled in a special education program for an extended duration. Parents were quite satisfied, in particular those with lower initial social relationships QoL. Larger studies including a control group are necessary to support preliminary evidence provided by this study, identify additional effect moderators, and disentangle the contribution of different components of the training.

Citation: Mavroeidi N, Sifnaios C, Ntinou A, Iatrou G, Konstantakopoulou O, Merino
Martínez M, Nucifora M, Tanrikulu I, Vadolas A. Exploring the Potential Impact of
Training on Short-Term Quality of Life and Stress of Parents of Children with
Autism: The Integrative Parents’ Autism Training Module. International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health. 2024; 21(4):474.

Open access article: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/7/2/81

Abstract
Recent studies state that, for a person with autism spectrum disorder, learning and improvement is often seen in environments where technological tools are involved. A robot is an excellent tool to be used in therapy and teaching. It can transform teaching methods, not just in the classrooms but also in the in-house clinical practices. With the rapid advancement in deep learning techniques, robots became more capable of handling human behaviour. In this paper, we present a cost-efficient, socially designed robot called ‘Tinku’, developed to assist in teaching special needs children. ‘Tinku’ is low cost but is full of features and has the ability to produce human-like expressions. Its design is inspired by the widely accepted animated character ‘WALL-E’. Its capabilities include offline speech processing and computer vision—we used light object detection models, such as Yolo v3-tiny and single shot detector (SSD)—for obstacle avoidance, non-verbal communication, expressing emotions in an anthropomorphic way, etc. It uses an onboard deep learning technique to localize the objects in the scene and uses the information for semantic perception. We have developed several lessons for training using these features. A sample lesson about brushing is discussed to show the robot’s capabilities. Tinku is cute, and loaded with lots of features, and the management of all the processes is mind-blowing. It is developed in the supervision of clinical experts and its condition for application is taken care of. A small survey on the appearance is also discussed. More importantly, it is tested on small children for the acceptance of the technology and compatibility in terms of voice interaction. It helps autistic kids using state-of-the-art deep learning models. Autism Spectral disorders are being increasingly identified today’s world. The studies show that children are prone to interact with technology more comfortably than a with human instructor. To fulfil this demand, we presented a cost-effective solution in the form of a robot with some common lessons for the training of an autism-affected child.

Citation: Deep Learning-Based Cost-Effective and Responsive Robot for Autism Treatment,
(2023). Singh, A.; Raj, K.; Kumar, T.; Verma, S.; Roy, A.M. Deep Learning-Based Cost- Effective and Responsive Robot for Autism Treatment. Drones 2023, 7, 81.
https://doi.org/10.3390/drones7020081

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/13623613221102016 

Abstract

One in 44 children in the United States is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Despite this,
physicians receive little clinical training, inclusive of autistic patients. It is therefore not surprising
that physicians report low levels of confidence in their ability to provide care to autistic individuals.
This review examines the impact of specialized training programs on physicians’ knowledge of
autism and their self-efficacy and practice behavior related to caring for autistic patients. A search of
MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, ERIC, Web of Science, and Scopus was performed to identify studies
evaluating specialized autism training programs for physicians or physician trainees. Seventeen
studies were found to meet the inclusion criteria. The Medical Education Research Study Quality
Instrument was utilized to objectively measure the quality of the included studies. Based on the
results reported in these studies, specialized autism training programs were associated with positive
changes in physician knowledge and self-efficacy related to the care of autistic patients. Other than
short-term increases in screening for autism, no other changes in physician behavior were studied.
These results call for the development and evaluation of autism training programs that focus on
improving physician behavior and patient outcomes.

Lay abstract
Autism spectrum disorder is estimated to impact 1.5 million children and almost 5.5 million adults.
However, most physicians do not receive training on how to provide care to this increasingly large
group of people. After performing a systematic review of the literature and screening over 4,500
unique articles focused on the effectiveness of autism-specific training programs designed for
physicians and physician trainees, we determined that 17 studies met the pre-determined criteria
for inclusion in this systematic review. The results reported by these studies suggest that by
completing specialized training programs related to autism, physicians were more knowledgeable on
topics related to the condition, more confident in their ability to provide care to autistic individuals,
and more likely to screen their patients for autism spectrum disorder. However, further studies with
higher quality data are needed to validate these findings and provide additional insight on the ability
of these programs to improve physician behavior and patient outcomes. We are therefore
advocating that medical educators develop and evaluate specialized autism training programs with
an increased focus on improving physician behavior related to all aspects of providing care to autistic
people.

Citation: Clarke, L., &amp; Fung, L. K. (2022). The impact of autism-related training programs on physician
knowledge, self-efficacy, and practice behavior: A systematic review. Autism, 26(7), 1626-1640.
https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221102016