Speech characteristics of children with ASD to a humanoid robot and peers

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) display difficulty engaging in social interactions. How does the use of a NAO robot during a social skills intervention affect the speech of children with ASD? This study examined whether the use of a NAO robot during a social skills intervention affects the quantity and quality of speech in six children (mean age = 11.6 yrs., range = 10.5-12.6) with ASD who attended four weekly social skills intervention sessions. The speech quantity was defined as an overall speech rate (utterances per minute), initiation rate (utterances per minute addressing the robot/other child), and response rate (utterances per minute responding to the robot/other child). Mean length of utterance (MLU) in overall speech, initiations, and responses was also measured. A marginally higher initiation rate and overall MLU in speech to the robot were identified in later sessions. Children produced a significantly higher MLU in responses to the robot in later sessions. MLU for initiations were marginally higher than MLU for responses to the robot. No changes in speech rate or MLU in speech directed to other children were identified. This suggests children may require repeated exposure to the NAO robot before changes in speech characteristics are revealed.