SAR include a variety of simplified anthropomorphized forms such as animal and humanoid robots and often employ a Wizard-of-Oz human control system in which the robot is partially operated by an unseen experimenter but appears to function autonomously while interacting with a child ( Dahlbäck et al., 1993). Rapid growth of technology and artificial intelligence has resulted in a relatively novel line of research evaluating the use of socially assistive robotics (SAR), or robots designed to promote the acquisition of social-communicative skills in neurodevelopmental disorders, including ASD ( Scassellati et al., 2012 Shic, Dommer, et al., 2020). Early interventions targeting social engagement and communication in ASD are typically delivered by therapists and caretakers and have been found to be effective in young children with ASD, particularly those targeting dyadic behaviors such as joint engagement ( Fuller & Kaiser, 2019 Green & Garg, 2018 Shire et al., 2017). Considering that puppets can engage in reciprocal interactions and deliver simplified, salient social-communicative cues, they may facilitate therapeutic efforts in children with ASD.Īutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder affecting the development of social engagement and communication with onset in early childhood ( American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Unlike humans, expressive and verbal puppets attracted the attention of children with ASD at levels comparable to that of TD controls.

While there was a strong association between low human speaker preference and high autism severity, no association with autism severity was found for puppet speaker preference.

However, attention to and preference for the puppet speaker’s face was greater than chance and comparable across the two groups. Unlike TD controls, the ASD group exhibited limited visual attention to and chance-level visual preference for the human speaker. Dwell time on these faces was analyzed as a function of group and speaker’s identity. Children with ASD (N = 37 M age = 49.44 months) and TD (N = 27 M age = 40.66 months) viewed a video depicting a puppet and a human engaged in a conversation. Here we examine if the introduction of puppets as social partners alters attention to speakers’ faces in young children with ASD and typically developing (TD) controls. Diminished visual attention to faces of social partners represents one of the early characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Puppet making meaning