Robot “panda” that helps children with autism from the University of Macedonia

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The Bady robot was presented at a conference entitled “Inclusive Politics and Cutting Edge Technologies” organized at the University of Macedonia

It has a black and white casing to avoid overstimulation caused by bright colors in children with autism, it is made of smooth plastic material with some plush spots, it has built-in wheels for movement and it can stand upright. His eyes are illuminated with the option to turn them off and his facial expressions are simplified.

It’s the Panda robot, named Buddy, which can act as a mediator to enhance the social interaction of children with autism spectrum disorders. It was presented at a seminar entitled “Inclusive Policy and Cutting Edge Technologies” organized at the University of Macedonia on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3).

Buddy, Social Assistance robot was designed and developed by members of the Developmental Disorders-Autism Laboratory ( https://labautism.uom.gr/ ), to help children with autism spectrum disorders focus on the activities and information they receive more easily.

Its design is based on the theory that zoomorphic robots do not imitate humans, therefore children with strong characteristics on the autism spectrum, i.e. with many sensory problems, are likely to feel less anxiety or fear when interacting with them, Eleni Golda emphasized. teacher of general and special education, member of the Developmental Disorders – Autism laboratory of the University of Macedonia.

The robot has two speakers and an optical system for detecting brightness and orientation, a microphone, touch sensors, the ability to produce speech. Its design is child-safe, durable, and works via WoZ remote connection setup, named after the Wizard of Oz movie. The trainer sits at a certain point and with some application secretly from the child operates the robot. This ensures the ability to adapt to the child’s needs and to contingencies, i.e. in the event of an episode of irritation, the instructor can change the course of the session and the activity.

Referring to the application of the robot in an innovative program she said it consists of four axes:

– Relief and reduction of stress. In the first phase, the child is introduced to the robot with the aim of getting used to it and handling is discreetly done by the teacher. The child interacts by having a simple conversation with a pre-planned scenario, open-ended questions are asked and rewards follow. The second phase is based on cognitive and behavioral therapy, used to reduce stress and the robot guides the child to perform relaxation exercises. The activities are like games that the child plays with a robot partner and the teacher acts as an assistant.

– Strengthen communication. It is important to provide reinforcers (eg sensory rewards – sounds, songs that the child likes) after the completion of each activity. Thus, positive behaviors and communication are more likely to occur. The activities are like games that the child plays with a robot partner and the teacher acts as an assistant. Also the spontaneous requests activity aims to develop children’s ability to express requests (light, music, story, dance) and to understand the cause-effect process.

– Social skills. Familiarization phase and imitation and turn-taking games, emotional and social understanding games are included.

– Motor skills. Mirroring and robotic movement activities help practice gross motor skills (balance, timing, coordination, imitation). Also included are perspective-taking games.

The use of robotic technology for children with autism – it falls under the category of robotic social assistance – has been an area of ​​great interest and study in the last decade, Mrs. Golda underlined, noting that in the future it would be useful to implement interventions with the robot-Panda in on a large scale and in different contexts, such as schools and special rehabilitation centers, in order to test its effectiveness in the social domain, communication, behavior management and motor skills and adapt accordingly.

The PAMAK Autism Laboratory collaborates with the faculty members, researchers of the University of Western Macedonia and other Universities, Foundations and Institutes (EKEFE Dimokritos, EKETA etc.).

“December 3rd Day of Reflection”

The exchange of views between technology, education, assessment and parents of people with developmental disorders – autism regarding social inclusion, independent living, creative and productive rehabilitation and inclusion of people with developmental disorders was the aim of the conference which organized by the associate professor of the Department of Educational and Social Policy and director of the Laboratory of Developmental Disorders-Autism https://labautism.uom.gr/) of the University of Macedonia, Christina Syriopoulou – Delli.

“The topics of the conference relate to the current necessity of the evolution of our school into an inclusive, integrated, unified school with the implementation of innovative programs and with the help of new technologies” underlined Ioannis Bousdounis, head of the Department of Special Education and Education of the Ministry of Education and Religions.

“Empathy, program planning, school-agency cooperation, professional skills, interdisciplinarity, early intervention, concepts from the recommendations of the conference are goals we want to achieve in education as an official state and as the Ministry of Education”, he emphasized.

The concept of inclusion refers to the philosophy of acceptance and providing a framework within which all children – regardless of status, ethnicity, gender, disability – can be valued equally and treated with respect. It concerns the removal of obstacles that students with disabilities may face in terms of their access and equal participation in education, the provision of equal educational opportunities and the promotion of their social and emotional development through the school context. In an inclusive classroom, diversity is considered an advantage for education and the school as a whole, thus promoting the participation of all students in the educational process and adopting practices such as cooperative learning and the use of technology for educational purposes, added Mr. Bousdounis.

It is estimated that 15% of the world’s population suffers from some form of disability, a percentage that corresponds to over 1 billion people worldwide, pointed out the director of the Developmental Disorders-Autism Laboratory of the University of Macedonia, Christina Syriopoulou – Delli. Of the 1 billion people with some form of disability, one in five is a woman and 46% are over 60, he said.

December 3rd is an annual event to raise awareness about creating a future where people with disabilities experience equal opportunities without barriers or discrimination in every aspect of their daily lives and social interaction including the right to equal inclusion in the workplace . It is a day of reflection and evaluation regarding the extent to which we as states, societies and institutions are converging towards its spirit” stressed Ms. Syriopoulou-Dellis.

In his greeting, the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts of PAMAK, Athanasios Zervas emphasized that the conference systematically investigates such serious issues regarding developmental disorders and autism and mobilizes the discussion for further cooperation between education and technology bodies.

RES-EMP

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