Children with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) experience various levels of difficulty in social communication and interaction, in addition to showing restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior.

This paper proposes a technology-based learning environment, ECHOES, to help children with ASC engage in social interactions. “Informed by and validated against the [social communication, emotional regulation, and transactional support, SCERTS] model, a comprehensive approach to autism assessment and intervention,” the single-user ECHOES environment utilizes an artificially intelligent (AI) agent with whom children can explore various activities. This AI agent engages the user in both proactive and reactive ways of learning with 12 learning activities. Evaluation included participants, aged 4 to 14, in a multi-site study in the United Kingdom (UK). Results show an “increase in the proportion of [social] responses” to both human practitioners and the AI agent.

The contributions of this paper are at least twofold: 1) a technology-based learning environment to facilitate children with ASC, and 2) the adoption of an AI agent to engage children in both proactive and reactive ways of learning.

This study will benefit the design research on learning environments for children with ASC, especially those with AI involvement, and can be a helpful teaching tool for educators.