Cognitive Wearable Robotics for Autism Perception Enhancement

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Min Chen ◽  
Wenjing Xiao ◽  
Long Hu ◽  
Yujun Ma ◽  
Yin Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental States ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Autistic Children ◽  
Wearable Robot ◽  
Robot Architecture ◽  
Individualized Care ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
The Social

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a serious hazard to the physical and mental health of children, which limits the social activities of patients throughout their lives and places a heavy burden on families and society. The developments of communication techniques and artificial intelligence (AI) have provided new potential methods for the treatment of autism. The existing treatment systems based on AI for children with ASD focus on detecting health status and developing social skills. However, the contradiction between the terminal interaction capability and availability cannot meet the needs for real application scenarios. At the same time, the lack of diverse data cannot provide individualized care for autistic children. To explore this robot-based approach, a novel AI-based first-view-robot architecture is proposed in this article. By providing care from the first-person perspective, the proposed wearable robot overcomes the difficulty of the absence of cognitive ability in the third-view of traditional robotics and improves the social interaction ability of children with ASD. The first-view-robot architecture meets the requirements of dynamic, individualized, and highly immersed interaction services for autistic children. First, the multi-modal and multi-scene data collection processes of standard, static, and dynamic datasets are introduced in detail. Then, to comprehensively evaluate the learning ability of children with ASD through mental states and external performances, a learning assessment model with emotion correction is proposed. Besides, a wearable robot-assisted environment perception and expression enhancement mechanism for children with ASD is realized by reinforcement learning, which can be adapted to interactive environments with optimal action policies. An interactive testbed for children with ASD treatments is demonstrated and experimental cases for test subjects are presented. Last, three open issues are discussed from data processing, robot designing, and service responding perspectives.

scholarly journals Adaptation to Vocal Expressions and Phonemes Is Intact in Autism Spectrum Disorder

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 372-381
Author(s):  
Patricia E. G. Bestelmeyer ◽  
Bethan Williams ◽  
Jennifer J. Lawton ◽  
Maria-Elena Stefanou ◽  
Kami Koldewyn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Social Stimuli ◽  
Adaptation Mechanism ◽  
Identity Recognition ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
The Social ◽  
Vocal Expressions

Several recent studies have demonstrated reduced visual aftereffects, particularly to social stimuli, in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This putative impairment of the adaptive mechanism in ASD has been put forward as a possible explanation for some of the core social problems experienced by children with ASD (e.g., facial emotion or identity recognition). We addressed this claim in children with ASD and typically developing children by using an established methodology and morphed auditory stimulus set for eliciting robust aftereffects to vocal expressions and phonemes. Although children with ASD were significantly worse at categorizing the vocal expressions compared with the control stimuli (phoneme categorization), aftereffect sizes in both tasks were identical in the two participant groups. Our finding suggests that the adaptation mechanism is not universally impaired in ASD and is therefore not an explanation for the social perception difficulties in ASD.

Millennium Nutrient N,N-Dimethylglycine (DMG) and its Effectiveness in Autism Spectrum Disorders.

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daljeet Singh Dhanjal ◽  
Sonali Bhardwaj ◽  
Chirag Chopra ◽  
Reena Singh ◽  
Jiri Patocka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conventional Medicine ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Autistic Children ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Drastic Increase ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Approved Drugs ◽  
Core Symptoms

: Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder belonging to the autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In ASDs, the individuals show substantial impairments in social communication, repetitive behaviours, and sensory behaviours deficits in the early stages of their life. Globally, the prevalence of autism is estimated to be less than 1%, especially in high-income countries. In recent decades, there has been a drastic increase in the incidence of ASD, which has put ASD into the category of epidemics. Presently, two US Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs, aripiprazole and risperidone are used to treat symptoms of agitation and irritability in autistic children. However, to date, no medication has been found to treat the core symptoms of ASD. The adverse side effects of conventional medicine and limited treatment options have led families and parents of autistic children to turn to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments, which are perceived as relatively safe compared to conventional medicine. Recently, N,N-dimethylglycine (DMG), a dietary supplement, has emerged as a useful supplement to improve the mental and physical state of children with ASD. The current review discusses ASD, the prevalence of ASD, CAM approach and efficacy of CAM treatment in children with ASD. Moreover, it highlights the chemistry, pharmacological effect, and clinical studies of DMG, highlighting its potential for improving the lifestyle of children with ASD.

scholarly journals Investigating SOcial Competence and Isolation in children with Autism taking part in LEGO-based therapy clubs In School Environments (I-SOCIALISE): study protocol

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. e030471
Author(s):  
Danielle Varley ◽  
Barry Wright ◽  
Cindy Cooper ◽  
David Marshall ◽  
Katie Biggs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Skills ◽  
Usual Care ◽  
Peer Relationships ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
School Level ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
The Social

IntroductionSocial skills training interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) typically focus on a skills deficit model rather than building on existing skills or encouraging the child to seek their own solutions. LEGO-based therapy is a child-oriented intervention to help improve social interactional skills and reduce isolation. The therapy is designed for school-age children with ASD and uses group-based play in a school setting to encourage peer relationships and social learning. Despite the reported potential benefits of LEGO-based therapy in a prior randomised controlled trial (RCT) and its adoption by many schools, the evidence to support its effectiveness on the social and emotional well-being of children with ASD is limited and includes no assessment of cost-effectiveness.Methods and analysisThis multicentre, pragmatic, cluster RCT will randomise 240 participants (aged 7–15 years) with a clinical diagnosis of ASD to receive usual care or LEGO-based therapy with usual care. Cluster randomisation will be conducted on a school level, randomising each school as opposed to each individual child within a school. All prospective participants will be screened for eligibility before assenting to the study (with parents giving informed consent on behalf of their child). All participants will be followed up at 20 and 52 weeks after randomisation to assess for social, emotional and behavioural changes. The primary outcome measure is the social skills subscale of the Social Skills Improvement System completed by a teacher or teaching assistant associated with participating children at the 20-week follow-up time point.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval has been obtained via the University of York Research Ethics Committee. The results of the trial will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal and will be disseminated to participating families, education practitioners and the third sector including voluntary and community organisations.Trial registration numberISRCTN64852382; Pre-results.

scholarly journals Computer- and Robot-Assisted Therapies to Aid Social and Intellectual Functioning of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Medicina ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (8) ◽  
pp. 440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan DiPietro ◽  
Arpad Kelemen ◽  
Yulan Liang ◽  
Cecilia Sik-Lanyi
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Social Skills ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Robot Assisted ◽  
The Past ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
The Social

Background and objectives: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience challenges with social interactions, a core feature of the disorder. Social skills therapy has been shown to be helpful. Over the past several years, computer-assisted and robot-assisted therapies have been infiltrating the social skills teaching environment. Rapid progress in the field of technology, especially in the robotics area, offers tremendous possibilities for innovation and treatment or even education for individuals with ASD. This paper’s purpose is to drive awareness of these innovative interventions in order to support the social lives of children with ASD. The aims of the paper are identifying (1) the types of Information Technology platforms that are being evaluated in computer and robot-assisted therapies for children with ASD; (2) the various disciplines or professions studying and utilizing these computer and robot-assisted social skill therapies; (3) the outcomes being evaluated in each trial; and (4) if results demonstrate benefits to children with autism. Materials and Methods: PubMed, CINAHL, Science Direct, and Web of Science databases were searched for clinical trials published over the past five years. Search terms incorporated the subject intersection of autism, and computer or robot-assisted therapy. Results were mined for pediatric populations only and study designs establishing controlled comparisons. Results: Eighteen unique international studies were identified that utilize robot interventions (11 studies) and serious computer game interventions (seven studies). Most demonstrated promising results in improving outcomes for children with ASD. Study implications reveal a rapidly evolving assistive technology for ASD social skills therapy. Conclusions: These interventions show considerable promise, but more effectiveness and cost effectiveness research of high quality should be carried out with larger numbers of children. Also, further studies are necessary to evaluate these technologies’ effectiveness amongst adults with ASD and within unique subsets of the higher functioning autism population.

scholarly journals Impaired voice processing in reward and salience circuits predicts social communication in children with autism

eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Arthur Abrams ◽  
Aarthi Padmanabhan ◽  
Tianwen Chen ◽  
Paola Odriozola ◽  
Amanda E Baker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Communication ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Editorial Note ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mother’S Voice ◽  
Voice Processing

Engaging with vocal sounds is critical for children’s social-emotional learning, and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often ‘tune out’ voices in their environment. Little is known regarding the neurobiological basis of voice processing and its link to social impairments in ASD. Here, we perform the first comprehensive brain network analysis of voice processing in children with ASD. We examined neural responses elicited by unfamiliar voices and mother’s voice, a biologically salient voice for social learning, and identified a striking relationship between social communication abilities in children with ASD and activation in key structures of reward and salience processing regions. Functional connectivity between voice-selective and reward regions during voice processing predicted social communication in children with ASD and distinguished them from typically developing children. Results support the Social Motivation Theory of ASD by showing reward system deficits associated with the processing of a critical social stimulus, mother’s voice, in children with ASD.Editorial note: This article has been through an editorial process in which the authors decide how to respond to the issues raised during peer review. The Reviewing Editor's assessment is that minor issues remain unresolved (<xref ref-type="decision-letter" rid="SA1">see decision letter</xref>).

The importance of peer mediation in the social functioning of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 594 (9) ◽  
pp. 41-50
Author(s):  
Ewelina Młynarczyk-Karabin
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Peer Relationships ◽  
Peer Mediation ◽  
Peer Group ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Great Opportunity ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
The Social ◽  
Collaborative Activities

The aim of the article is to indicate the role of peer relationships in the functioning of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and to indicate the potential possibilities of establishing interaction with a peer group. Peer mediation is one of the principles that apply to intervening with students with ASD. It is based on the involvement of peers as social skills trainers and mentors of a student with autism. Through the interaction, peers learn ways to involve a child with ASD in collaborative activities that they initiate themselves or that are planned by their teacher. The basic types of peer mediation include: Integrative Play Groups, Colleague Mentor, Peer Group and Group Oriented Approach. Supporting students with ASD through peer mediation is a method that has been shown to be effective in research. It has a positive effect not only on the development of children with ASD, but also on children with typical development. The implementation of mediation in the peer group is a great opportunity for children with ASD to reduce the risk of being rejected by their peers, and in the future to establish friendships between children.

scholarly journals Technology-Assisted Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder using Augmented Reality

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 2156-2162
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Social Communication ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
The Social ◽  
Behavior Skills ◽  
And Behavior

Technology-assisted intervention has potentials in improving the social, communication and behavior impairments in of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Augmented reality (AR) offers multitude of possibilities and opportunities for the intervention of children with ASD. Therefore, this study identifies 13 researches from 2012 to 2018 that documented the efficacy of augmented reality applications in supporting the intervention of children with ASD. This study reviews the applications of augmented reality that nhanced the intervention for children with autism in (i) social skills, (ii) communication skills, and (iii) behavior skills. The conclusion reports the significant roles of augmented reality as technology-assisted intervention for children with ASD.

scholarly journals Atypical Resting State Functional Neural Network in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Graph Theory Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daiki Soma ◽  
Tetsu Hirosawa ◽  
Chiaki Hasegawa ◽  
Kyung-min An ◽  
Masafumi Kameya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Graph Theory ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Social Impairment ◽  
Social Responsiveness ◽  
Beta Band ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
The Social ◽  
Functional Brain Networks

Measuring whole brain networks is a promising approach to extract features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a brain disorder of widespread regions. Objectives of this study were to evaluate properties of resting-state functional brain networks in children with and without ASD and to evaluate their relation with social impairment severity. Magnetoencephalographic (MEG) data were recorded for 21 children with ASD (7 girls, 60–89 months old) and for 25 typically developing (TD) control children (10 girls, 60–91 months old) in a resting state while gazing at a fixation cross. After signal sources were localized onto the Desikan–Killiany brain atlas, statistical relations between localized activities were found and evaluated in terms of the phase lag index. After brain networks were constructed and after matching with intelligence using a coarsened exact matching algorithm, ASD and TD graph theoretical measures were compared. We measured autism symptoms severity using the Social Responsiveness Scale and investigated its relation with altered small-worldness using linear regression models. Children with ASD were found to have significantly lower small-worldness in the beta band (p = 0.007) than TD children had. Lower small-worldness in the beta band of children with ASD was associated with higher Social Responsiveness Scale total t-scores (p = 0.047). Significant relations were also inferred for the Social Awareness (p = 0.008) and Social Cognition (p = 0.015) sub-scales. Results obtained using graph theory demonstrate a difference between children with and without ASD in MEG-derived resting-state functional brain networks, and the relation of that difference with social impairment. Combining graph theory and MEG might be a promising approach to establish a biological marker for ASD.

scholarly journals Comparison of Physiological and Biochemical Autonomic Indices in Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorders

Medicina ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (7) ◽  
pp. 346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Remya Bharath ◽  
Shailaja S. Moodithaya ◽  
Shrinivasa U. Bhat ◽  
Amrit M. Mirajkar ◽  
Sumanth B. Shetty
Keyword(s):  
Sympathetic Activity ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Vagal Activity ◽  
Vanillylmandelic Acid ◽  
Autistic Children ◽  
Autonomic Nervous ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Autonomic Index ◽  
Physiological And Biochemical ◽  
Autonomic Indices

Background and objectives: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neuro-developmental disorder and it has been suggested that symptoms of ASD are associated with neural networks that regulate the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). However, the nature of autonomic atypicalities in ASDs remain largely unknown. Measures like Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and urinary Vanillylmandelic Acid (VMA) estimation are sensitive and non-invasive physiological and biochemical indicators of autonomic nervous activity. This study aimed to compare the physiological and biochemical autonomic indices in children with and without ASD. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 40 children with autism and 40 Typically Developing (TD) children were recruited. Measures of physiological autonomic index were assessed by the analysis of short term HRV, and the urinary levels of VMA estimation was used as a biochemical autonomic index. Results: Cardiac sympathetic activity assessed by Low Frequency (nu) of HRV was significantly higher in the ASD group in comparison with the TD group (p = 0.006). On the contrary, both the High Frequency (abs) and (nu) of HRV were found to be significantly lower in autistic children (p = 0.034 and p = 0.000) than controls. Autistic children also exhibited a significantly higher level (p = 0.049) of VMA concentration compared to TD children. Conclusion: The study concludes that children with ASD exhibit lower cardio-vagal activity as measured by HRV and increased sympathetic activity as assessed by urinary VMA compared to that of TD children. The core autistic symptoms exhibited by children with ASD could be due to the differences in baseline arousal or stress which might be associated with autonomic dysfunction. Further studies are needed to examine the association of this autonomic dysregulation with ASD symptoms and comorbidities.

The concept of autism spectrum disorder: a study on knowledge sharing protocol among parents with autistic children in Ghana

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Kissi-Abrokwah ◽  
Kwame Kodua-Ntim
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autistic Children ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Philosophical Foundations ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
The Government

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify knowledge sharing practices used among parents with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Design/methodology/approach The study was based on qualitative philosophical foundations, where phenomenological case study design was used to make an in-depth understanding of how parents whose children are diagnosed with ASD shared knowledge among themselves. The population for this research consists of parents whose children have been diagnosed with ASD in Ghana. The study sampled for the study was 12 parents and was selected from 4 autism awareness centres in Ghana to obtain data through the use of focus group discussion and analysed with the aid of thematic analysis. Findings The study showed that the dimensions of knowledge sharing practices used by parents with autistic children were after-action review/lesson learnt, brainstorming, mentoring, coaching system, discussion forum, face-to-face meeting, documentation, peer assistance and storytelling. Finally, the study also revealed that knowledge sharing practices used by parents with autistic children help them in their daily engagement. Social implications An aspect of the training of social workers should focus on how to assist parents, family and neighbours of children with ASD. The government through the needed ministries and agencies should create a social support system to assist parents and families with children with ASD. Counsellors should avail their services to parents with children with ASD as early as possible to avoid or ameliorate some of the emotional and psychological challenges of these parents. Originality/value The paper offers a comprehensive overview on how knowledge sharing transforms the individual to learn and accept autistic condition in Ghana.

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