Promoting computational thinking and communicational-social interaction among kindergarten children with Autism

In the rapidly evolving digital age, computational thinking, an organized logical process for creative problem-solving, has become essential. Nevertheless, research in early childhood, particularly among autistic children, remains limited. This study focused on autistic children, aimed to promote computational thinking and social-communication interaction through a robot-mediated intervention program. The study involved 120 kindergarten children aged 4.92 to 6.5 years (M = 5.74, SD = 0.35), divided into four groups: (1) 30  autistic children with a button-controlled robot-mediated intervention (Bee-Bot), (2) 30 autistic children with a tablet-controlled robot-mediated intervention (Blue-Bot), (3) a control group of 30 autistic children who participate in the regular kindergarten activities with no intervention, and (4) a comparison group of 30 non-autistic children. All children completed pre- and post-tests, including screening (VCI, VSI), adaptive abilities (SCQ, parents), computational thinking (BCTt), and observed social-communication during the 11 weekly intervention sessions. All children completed pre- and post-tests, including screening (VCI, VSI), adaptive abilities (SCQ- parents), computational thinking (BCTt), and observed social-communication interaction. The intervention program consisted of 11 weekly sessions. The study found that, pre-intervention, autistic children scored lower in computational thinking than their non-autistic peers. Robot-based intervention improved both computational thinking and social-communication skills, with the tablet-controlled Blue-Bot, particularly in nested loops, outperforming the button-operated Bee-Bot. No significant change was observed in the autistic control or non-autistic groups. Notably, the Blue-Bot group reached performance levels comparable to non-autistic children, reducing the gap. Intervention type also explained significant variance in outcomes beyond cognitive level and baseline performance.  These results underscore the potential of robot-assisted learning to promote both cognitive and social development in autistic children.