[Heartlogic-dev] Health Watch: New Hope For Autistic Children

[Joshua N Pritikin]

      Two British researchers have found an unusual way to encourage
autistic children to learn to improve and develop their own social skills.
      For years experts have tried to define autism but no specific
diagnosis has been reached.
      Many believe the condition is caused by problems afflicting the
development of the brain before, during or very soon after birth.
      Mike Collins, Education Advisor at the National Autistic Society
said:
'We are still in the dark as to the causes of autism.
      "There are all sorts of genetic factors that could be linked but we
cannot put it down to one specific, identifiable cause. It really is a
disorder in human relationships.' He said there are three tasks the children
struggle with: social interaction using verbal and non-verbal communication;
rigidity of thought, or difficulty using their imagination; and
understanding how other people think, or the ability to put themselves in
someone else's shoes.
      The 'disorder' affects two in 1,000 children - mainly boys - in
Europe, Australia and the US, and the number is rapidly rising. Some have
extremely high IQs but others have to cope with severe learning
difficulties.
      Asperger's syndrome, is a milder type of autism.
      Sufferers of both conditions, particularly the younger generation,
have trouble constructing sentences, maintaining eye contact, imitating
people and socialising generally.
      There are a number of strategies used to encourage communication and
interaction in autistic children.
      But Kerstin Dauntenhahn and Iain Werry, both researchers at the
University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield, near London believe they have found
an alternative strategy.
      Dautenhahn, biologist and robotist, and Werry, robotist, joined forces
to conduct research hoping to improve the social skills of young autistic
people.
      They began their research in 1998 to produce two robots - a toy truck
and an off-the-shelf doll, the latter developed by American robotist Aude
Billard.
      These designs were favoured above a humanoid design, which they feared
would unnerve the children. Autistic sufferers can often be scared of other
people.
      The toy truck uses heat sensors to detect the child when they are
nearby and bumper switches make it reverse immediately upon impact.
      Basic commands help it to play games like 'tag' and 'follow my
leader'. For example, when the child moves away it follows, and when the
child moves towards the robot it reverses away, creating games without the
child being explicitly aware of their participation.
      This method encourages the child in the practice of turn-taking which
is a fundamental basis of speech and conversation.
      The doll, Robota, is powered by motors and sensors and a processor
chip enables the doll to mimic the movement of the child.
      It is perfect for autistic children who, it was discovered, enjoy
playing with dolls because they have control over them.
      Robota works in this way because it mimics the child's movement. When
the child moves their arm the robot will copy the action, but on one
condition - the child is facing the robot. Dautenhahn and Werry hope this
will encourage eye contact.
      They believed both of the mechanical toys' features would help because
the robotic qualities would engage with the child.
      Mike Collins agreed. He said: 'One thing we have found with autistic
children is that they relate very well to artificial intelligence such as
computers because they are easy to understand.
      "They do not have moods and they do not tell you one thing and mean
another. What you see is what you get with a computer. There is no hidden
meaning.' Both of the designs act within some rules so the child feels in
charge and is comfortable around the robot. By retaining some element of
unpredictability the child will seek to establish patterns in the robot's
behaviour.
      The toy truck was put to the test when boys, aged between seven and
11, from Radlett Lodge School (for Children with Autism), Hertfordshire,
were given a normal toy truck and the robotic truck to play with.
      All the boys enjoyed playing with the robotic truck and even became
protective of it. Most encouraging though was that the children played and
interacted with each other.
      But critics feel the mechanical activities would not be varied enough
and will only recreate the same situation as that developed with classroom
teaching. They fear the children would not be able to adapt what they have
learned to different environments.
      Mr Collins said he could see the advantages of introducing autistic
children to the robots, but he also voiced concerns.
      He said: 'I do think the children will have problems transferring what
they learn simply because this is part of the disability. They may well
learn a lot but a lot of the children I work with repeat huge chunks of
video script, and in the same way they may simply repeat what the robots
say.' But he admitted that it would certainly be of benefit to some children
and would complement the classroom teaching they already receive.
      He said: 'Autism is a very widespread disorder covering a whole
spectrum of people. I am sure that some people will get something positive
from working with the robots and even if it only helps one child out of 100,
it is still doing a very brilliant thing.'
Copyright ? 2002 .
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