Mapping Robotic Affordances with Prerequisite Learning Interventions for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder For children with Autism Spectrum Disease (ASD), prerequisite learning (PRL) skills are particularly important because they form the basis for acquiring other advanced cognitive skills. Globally, researchers have shown that robotassisted therapy (RAT) can have several positive effects on children with ASD. However, previous researches have failed in clearly mapping the PRL skill training tasks and strategies to robot affordances. In this research, we foster a better understanding of the objectives of the PRL skills required for children with ASD and provide a mapping with robot affordances to execute PRL training activities. Indepth interviews and focus group discussions (N25) with paediatricians, ASD therapists, and educators from three nonprofit organisations were conducted to understand the clinical practices for teaching PRL skills among children with ASD. Naturalistic observations were used to understand the exercise and training protocols implemented for improving PRL skills among children with ASD. Finally, clinical literature on robotic therapy and technical documents provided by the manufacturers were analysed for identifying commercially available robots and evaluating their features and affordances. Our analysis revealed that affordances offered by several commercially available robots could be effectively leveraged to develop RobotAssisted Therapies (RATs) to improve PRL skills in children with ASD. Strategies and implications for developing RATs to improve PRL skills among children with ASD are also discussed.

A Participatory Design Process of a Robotic Tutor of Assistive Sign Language for Children with Autism We present the participatory design process of a robotic tutor of assistive sign language for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Robots have been used in autism therapy, and to teach sign language to neurotypical children. The application of teaching assistive sign language xe2x80x94 the most common form of assistive and augmentative communication used by people with ASD xe2x80x94 is novel. The robotxe2x80x99s function is to prompt children to imitate the assistive signs that it performs. The robot was therefore codesigned to appeal to children with ASD, taking into account the characteristics of ASD during the design process: impaired language and communication, impaired social behavior, and narrow flexibility in daily activities. To accommodate these characteristics, a multidisciplinary team defined design guidelines specific to robots for children with ASD, which were followed in the participatory design process. With a pilot study where the robot prompted children to imitate nine assistive signs, we found support for the effectiveness of the design. The children successfully imitated the robot and kept their focus on it, as measured by their eye gaze. Children and their companions reported positive experiences with the robot, and companions evaluated it as potentially useful, suggesting that robotic devices could be used to teach assistive sign language to children with ASD.