An intervention for children with social anxiety and autism spectrum disorders using an android robot

Abstract

Some children with social anxiety and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by deficits in social communication consisting of a lack of speech in specific social situations in which there is an expectation of speaking, although these children do speak in other situations. Comorbid social anxiety and ASD is considered hard to treat. A variety of therapeutic and educational approaches have been developed, which have had educational benefits for some children with social anxiety and ASD. Thus, there is an urgent need for the development and application of novel and more efficacious treatment strategies. We introduced a “taking note system,” in which a subject operates an android robot and communicates with others through it. Post intervention, the participant showed a significant decrease in social anxiety. Based on our case report, an intervention using a “taking note system” is effective for decreasing stress. This finding suggests that this approach is promising and warrants further study.