Cognitive robots in the development and rehabilitation of children with developmental disorders

Cognitive robots constitute a highly interdisciplinary approach to the issue of therapy of children with developmental disorders. Cognitive robots become more popular, especially in action and language integration areas, joining the experience of psychologists, neuroscientists, philosophers, and even engineers. The concept of a robot as a cognitive companion for humans may be very useful. The interaction between humans and cognitive robots may be a mediator of movement patterns, learning behaviors from demonstrations, group activities, and social behaviors, as far as higher-order concepts such as symbol manipulation capabilities, words acquisition, and sensorimotor knowledge organization. Moreover there is an occupation to check many theories, such as transferring the knowledge and skills between humans and robots. Although several robotic solutions for children have been proposed the diffusion of aforementioned ideas is still limited. The review summarizes the current and future role of cognitive robots in the development and rehabilitation of children with developmental disorders.