Participants Needed: Autism & Robotics Study at GWU (Ages 13–19, $30 Gift Card)

[Zhenhao]

Hi everyone,

I’m a PhD researcher at George Washington University, and we’re currently recruiting teens aged 13–19 with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to participate in a research study exploring how humanoid robots can support stress reduction and social interaction.

🧠 What’s Involved:

One 30–40 minute session at our lab (SEH Building, GWU Foggy Bottom campus)

Participants will chat with a humanoid robot (Pepper), try a guided breathing activity, and play a short game like charades
No invasive procedures, and parents are welcome to stay throughout

🎁 Compensation:
Participants receive a $30 Amazon gift card as a thank-you

📍 Location:
George Washington University – Science & Engineering Hall (800 22nd St NW, DC)

If you're interested or would like more details, please feel free to message me here or email me at [e-mail]. We would be incredibly grateful for your support!

Thank you so much,
Zhenhao Zhao
PhD Candidate, GWU Biomedical Engineering

[Anonymous]

Rats. My kid just turned 20. He'd have loved to participate.

[Anonymous]

My kid would love that, but he saw on TV some of the protests there last year turn violent and he's scared of GWU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid would love that, but he saw on TV some of the protests there last year turn violent and he's scared of GWU.

Tell your child that mine, who is a sophomore at GWU, walked by the encampment every day, and reported it looked very calm and studious. People were sitting in little tents, prepping for exams and such. The protests were mainly by people who weren't GW students (at least that's what the arrest records show) and despite living on campus, he did not witness any of the protests, and wasn't disturbed by them. Now with the White House crackdown, protests aren't going to happen anyway and there is no camp.

[Zhenhao]

Anonymous wrote:Rats. My kid just turned 20. He'd have loved to participate.

Thank you so much for your message!
Although your son just missed the age range for our current study, we actually have another study for autistic adults coming up soon ：）

[Zhenhao]

Anonymous wrote:My kid would love that, but he saw on TV some of the protests there last year turn violent and he's scared of GWU.

Thanks for letting me know — that totally makes sense. I understand how those images could be unsettling. Just to reassure you, there haven’t been any protests near GWU for quite a long time now, and our sessions take place in a quiet, secure building on campus, far from any public areas ：）

Really appreciate your interest!

[Anonymous]

Zhenhao wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid would love that, but he saw on TV some of the protests there last year turn violent and he's scared of GWU.

Thanks for letting me know — that totally makes sense. I understand how those images could be unsettling. Just to reassure you, there haven’t been any protests near GWU for quite a long time now, and our sessions take place in a quiet, secure building on campus, far from any public areas ：）

Really appreciate your interest!

Thanks for getting back to me. I do think it's an interesting idea to use robots. How big are they? When my nephew was looking at colleges we went with him to tour George Mason and my son fell in love with all the delivery robots. They were like little RTD2s-lower to the ground and surprisingly cute. He was constantly looking around hoping to spot another one. He would have enjoyed chatting with one.

I also think the breathing exercise is a good idea-just make sure it is taught correctly. One psychologist taught it wrong (and even her handout was wrong), but when another psychologist taught it properly and made sure he was doing it right each visit, it was a really useful tool.

[Anonymous]

Zhenhao wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rats. My kid just turned 20. He'd have loved to participate.

Thank you so much for your message!
Although your son just missed the age range for our current study, we actually have another study for autistic adults coming up soon ：）

Thanks, OP, if you post it here I might see it. Best wishes for your research.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Zhenhao wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid would love that, but he saw on TV some of the protests there last year turn violent and he's scared of GWU.

Thanks for letting me know — that totally makes sense. I understand how those images could be unsettling. Just to reassure you, there haven’t been any protests near GWU for quite a long time now, and our sessions take place in a quiet, secure building on campus, far from any public areas ：）

Really appreciate your interest!

Thanks for getting back to me. I do think it's an interesting idea to use robots. How big are they? When my nephew was looking at colleges we went with him to tour George Mason and my son fell in love with all the delivery robots. They were like little RTD2s-lower to the ground and surprisingly cute. He was constantly looking around hoping to spot another one. He would have enjoyed chatting with one.

I also think the breathing exercise is a good idea-just make sure it is taught correctly. One psychologist taught it wrong (and even her handout was wrong), but when another psychologist taught it properly and made sure he was doing it right each visit, it was a really useful tool.

I just looked up the GMU robots and I remembered wrong. They don't look like RTD2, but they are cute. I do think it's a great idea to try using robots. We have done a lot of intervention for stress reduction and social that have been useful and we don't have a lot of free time to participate, but I am curious to find out what your research shows.