Sustained attention in children with ASD: A comparative analysis between traditional intervention and the use of the MyRoT robotic tree

We investigated the effectiveness of the intervention through the MyRoT robot tree as a didactic support on the development of sustained attention in children with ASD. A mixed approach study was carried out with 14 IPHE students diagnosed with ASD aged 5 to 12 years, they were divided into: Group A (control), face-toface intervention and Group B, remote intervention through MyRoT. We analyze the number of correct answers and the level of sustained attention by measuring the focusing time, using the parameter established in the RETAS document, proposed by us. We used a significance level of 0.05 for Student’s T tests (focusing time and number of correct answers) and Pearson classification. By not observing significant differences in focusing time and correctness, we conclude that the intervention modality does not influence the development of sustained attention. We did not find an estimate between focusing time and successes. However, both groups presented equality in the amount of achievement, according to the ABA model, and reached adequate levels of sustained attention according to RETAS, supporting the usefulness of MyRoT for remote interventions. Furthermore, students in group B demonstrated spontaneous interactions towards MyRoT, suggesting a potential to improve social skills, spontaneous language, communicative intention and emotion recognition in children with ASD.