CUHK Research: Changing the world

“When someone is talking to you, you make eye contact with that person without verbally interrupting and when you greet a friend, you wave and say ‘hello’. These are basic social skills we learn during childhood but for autistic children, it is not that easy,” says Professor Catherine So Wing-chee from the Department of Educational Psychology. In 2016, Professor So introduced the use of social robots to assist teachers in improving autistic children’s social skills. “I launched the Robot for Autism Behavioural Intervention (RABI) programme to effectively improve autistic children’s communications skills. First started in 2016, RABI is the world’s first programme containing a comprehensive robot curriculum in treating autistic children. A direct instruction method was adopted, allowing autistic children to imitate the robot’s correct way to connect with people – it resulted in a positive outcome.” The encouraging results did not stop Professor So from advancing her research. “The programme was rather monotonous in the beginning,” said Professor So. “I hope autistic children can learn beyond imitating – understanding the rationale behind all gestures is a crucial part of learning.” In 2018, Professor So and her team started introducing more interactive elements into the curriculum. Robots are equipped with a speech recognition function, specialised in performing dramas and role-playing with autistic children. “By simulating real-life situations, children will understand why particular actions and gestures are performed. In 2020, robots started demonstrating both right and wrong actions, so that autistic children can learn from mistakes and acquire appropriate communication skills.” Robots play a vital role in assisting human teachers to produce better learning outcome. “Some autistic children can be sensitive to sensory simulations, which distracts the learning process. The use of robots prevents it from happening, and through repeated actions that are meticulously and consistently formulated, autistic children can concentrate on learning, producing a more effective learning outcome.” Since August 2022, the team started providing workplace training to autistic teenagers aged 18 and above, hoping to assist them in identifying their career paths. “CUHK is a precious platform for us to bring research findings to society,” says Professor So. “The competent young scholars here are key to creating a healthy research ecosystem.” Special education Catherine So Wing-chee Professor of Educational Psychology Using social robots to improve autistic children’s social skills 83