Critical Explorations into Constructions of Autism in Social Robot Research for Children

Today, it seems we have come further in our acceptance and understanding of autism due to its visibility. However, autistic people have been portrayed as problems and burdens within public debate and research for decades.

One recent solution proposed by researchers have been behavioral correction of the so-called problematic behaviors of autistic people aided by social robots. This study looks at the scientific outputs of EU funded robotics projects for behavioral correction of autistic kids. It investigates how researchers portray autism as a social problem that can be solved by technology.

The project also explores how these portrayals can have possibly negative consequences for autistic people in terms of marginalization and alienation.

To achieve its aims, this project investigates different modes of communication researchers make use of such as images, written text and spoken language when talking about autism and autistic people.The researcher aims to advocate for the practical application of this research.

This is to ensure ethical research practice and the development of technologies that ‘do no harm’ according to EU, WHO, and UNICEF regulations.

The study results will be communicated to the autism community, the scientific community, and relevant organizations such as the European Commission.

The researcher will engage in dialogues with AI & social robotics researchers to bridge social sciences and technology sciences perspectives.