Case Series
Playfulness in Children with Limited Motor Abilities when using a Robot
Rios-Rincon, A. M., Adams, K., Magill-Evans, J. & Cook, A.
Physical & Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 00(00):1 – 15, 2015
Link to abstract: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26566226
Objective: For children with cerebral palsy, will robot play increase playfulness? Children with cerebral palsy may have fewer opportunities to play. “Promoting playfulness in children with CP… might have a positive effect on self-determination, adaptive behaviors, and problem solving in creative ways. "Will Test of Playfulness (ToP) scores increase during the intervention?"
Process: Four 4 – 9 year old children with Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels 4 or 5 and Manual Ability Classification Scale (MACS) level 4 or 5 and they needed to be able to respond to yes/no questions and to operate the robot using two switches. During the intervention phase, the children were encouraged by their mothers to play with the robot for 15 minutes twice a week for 5 weeks.
Findings: The baseline ToP scores for three of the four children were stable. During the intervention, all four children showed significantly increased scores. "This study adds to the limited evidence for the effectiveness of interventions for play… (and) that adapted Lego robots promote playfulness in children with cerebral palsy who have limitations in mobility and manual ability through free play in family routines."