Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

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Emad V, Estaki M, Koochak Entezar R. Comparing the Effectiveness of Sensory Integration Methods With and Without Robot in the Communication of 7 to 9 Years Old Boys With Autism Spectrum Disorder. MEJDS 2022; 12 :67-67
URL: http://jdisabilstud.org/article-1-2433-en.html

Background & Objectives: Today, autism spectrum disorder is defined as a group of developmental neurological syndromes, and impairment in social interactions is a major barrier to participation in social environments for people with autism. Given the importance of this issue, it seems necessary to use approaches that help children with autism to solve this problem. Sensory integration is a therapeutic method often used to treat sensory processing in children with an autism spectrum disorder. Sensory integration exercises are a neurological process that requires the organization of sensations received from the main and key receptors for use in daily activities. Currently, the use of robots in therapy is progressing as a suitable method to improve people's quality of life. One of the prominent fields of treatment with the help of technology is the use of robots to help communicate directly with people, which is called social robotics. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of sensory integration methods with and without robots on communication in autistic children. 
Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental with pretest, posttest, and two-months follow-up with a control group. The study’s statistical population comprised 7-9 years old boys with moderate autism spectrum studying in Tehran schools, Iran in the academic year 2018-2019. The research participants were diagnosed with the average probability of the autism spectrum by the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale: The Second Edition (GARS-2) (2006) and they were diagnosed with autism by at least two psychiatrists. Sampling was done by convenience sampling and 45 eligible children with autism spectrum were randomly assigned to two experimental and one control groups. In all three stages of pretest, posttest, and follow-up, the communication section of the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale: Second Edition (GARS-2) (2006) was used. After the test was performed, the first group was treated with only sensory integration method for 45 minutes, and the second group not only treated with the sensory integration method for 45 minutes but also with robot therapy for 45 minutes. The sensory integration method was performed according to Ayers's (1972) protocols. Robot therapy was performed with a sensory robot based on the nature of the robot and the robot treatment protocols from Scassellati et al. (2012) and Kumazaki et al. (2018). The robot used in this study was a sensory robot in the shape of a cat and the name of this robot was Toby Orange Cat. At the end of the sessions, the social interaction part of the GARS-2 (2006) was performed again and after two months, the same test was performed to follow up the treatment. The results were analyzed with SPSS version 22 software at a significance level of 0.05. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (variance analysis with repeated measurements, Bonferroni's post hoc test, and the Kruskal-Wallis test).
Results: Based on the results, there was a significant difference between the sensory integration group with and without robot in the communication of children with the autism spectrum (p=0.001). Also, in the sensory integration groups with and without the robot, there was a significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores (p<0.001) and between the pretest and follow-up scores (p<0.001) in terms of the communication variable score. However, there was no significant difference between the posttest and follow-up scores in the two groups of sensory integration with and without the robot, indicating that the intervention of sensory integration with and without the robot continued in the follow-up phase.
Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, the combination of two therapies of integration-sensory therapy and robot therapy can improve the communication disorders of children with autism spectrum disorder, more than integration-sensory therapy alone.