Comparison of robot-delivered and teacher-delivered script fading instruction in teaching conversational skills to children with autism spectrum disorder: Mix method research

The aim of this doctoral dissertation research is to compare the effectivEniss, efficiency of humanoid robot and teacher-provided replicated instruction in teaching conversation skills to children with ASD and to determine parent's views . The study was conducted with four boys aged 10-12 years with ASD who received mainstreaming education and individual special education. In the study, which was conducted with the Parallel Mixed Model, the adaptive alternating applications model, one of the single-subject research designs, and the case study, one of the qualitative research methods, were used together. The findings showed that both humanoid robots and teachers were effective in teaching conversation skills with the replicated instruction method, and that humanoid robots were more efficient than teachers in the number of replicated instruction sessions, the number of non-replicated instruction sessions, the number of non-replicated sentences used, and the duration of instruction until the criterion was met. Parents stated that humanoid robots were interesting for their children, that they were a natural source of motivation for them, that their children were eager to interact with the humanoid robot, and that the humanoid robot's predictable and expectant attitude relaxed their children, which were factors that could make more positive contributions to their children's conversational skills.