Alina S. Rusu

Interaction with a Therapy Dog Enhances the Effects of Social Story Method in Autistic Children

AbstractThis study explored the effects of a combination between two methods that have proved to enhance the social abilities of autistic children—Social Story and Animal Assisted Therapy. The main hypothesis of this investigation was that a naturally enriched social environment (i.e., the presence of a therapy dog) improves the effectiveness of Social Story method. Two social skills were targeted: (1) the ability to greet a social partner and (2) the ability to introduce oneself to a social partner, by using a standard single-subject research design. Three preschool autistic children were included in the study. The dependent variables were the frequency of the appropriate social interactions relevant to the target social skill, the level of prompt needed to provide the expected social response, and the frequency of social initiations. The presence of the therapy dog while reading the social story increased the frequency of social initiations and decreased the level of social prompt needed to elicit social responses from children with autism.

Social Robots vs. Computer Display: Does the Way Social Stories are Delivered Make a Difference for Their Effectiveness on ASD Children?

Background and Objectives: The aim of this exploratory study is to test whether social stories presented by a social robot have a greater effect than ones presented on a computer display in increasing the independency in expressing social abilities of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Although much progress has been made in developing interventions to improve social skills of children with ASD, a number of unresolved problems still remain. Social robots received increased attention as assisting tools for improving social skills on children with ASD. Methods: Twenty children with ASD (age between 4 and 9 years old) were randomly allocated to three groups: control group (n = 7), computer-presented social stories (n = 6), and robot assisted therapy (n = 7). Results: Overall, our data indicate that using the social robot to implement social story intervention was more effective for improving the independency of expressing social abilities for the participants, than the computer screen. Limitations: Future studies should include a bigger sample size, more intervention sessions, and a follow-up session in order to see if the effect persists in time. Conclusions: The preliminary outcomes of this exploratory research provide empirical bases for further investigations regarding the effectiveness of robot assisted therapy in improving social skills for children with autism through future randomized clinical trials.

Is the social robot probo an added value for social story intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders

In this paper, we describe the first results of using the robot Probo as a facilitator in Social Story Intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Four preschoolers diagnosed with ASD participated in this research. For each of them, a specific social skill deficit was identified, like Sharing toys, Saying Thank you and Saying Hello, and an individualized Social Story was developed. The stories were told by both, the therapist and the robot, in different intervention phases. Afterwards, an experimental task was created where the child needed to exercise the ability targeted by the story. The results of this study showed that the participant needed a decreased level of prompt to perform the targeted behavior, when the story was told by the robot compared to the intervention with the human storyteller. Therefore, this preliminary study created great expectancies about the potential of Robot Assisted Therapy as an added value for ASD interventions.

Trends in Higher Education Service-Learning Courses for Pre-Service Teachers: A Systematic Review

As a malleable, potent curricular tool with numerous positive outcomes in students’ personal, academic and social lives, Service-Learning (S-L) has lately gained an increased interest from the scientific community. The most important challenge in introducing S-L instructional strategies in academic practice is designing effective, pragmatic S-L programs directed towards both reforming education by enhancing pre-service teachers’ experiences and addressing community needs. Following the systematic review algorithm, this paper focuses on summarizing novel trends and procedures in higher education S-L courses for pre-service teachers and on outlining a best practices profile. The systematic review is based on key research questions that reveal the following aspects of the S-L programs: the major scope of the programs, the most common types of programs, the hosting environment chosen by project managers, the types of activities included in such programs, the architecture of the mandatory reflection component of S-L programs, as well as the duration and evaluation techniques of the programs. The findings may serve as a reference point in designing more efficient S-L programs.