Protocol for optimizing robot-assisted autism therapy sessions through gaze analysis: A pilot study investigating optimal trial count for children with comorbid autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability

The results, validated using single-sample Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, revealed that the unsaturated state, with a median score of 3.44, exhibited significantly lower average inter-eye contact delay (p-value = 0.014, r = 0.86) and significantly higher average number of eye contact (p-value = 0.014, r = 0.87) compared to the hypothesized medians. These findings suggest that the unsaturated state occurring in the critical temporal window has significantly higher average number of eye contact and lower average inter-eye contact delay compared to the saturated state. This study underscores the importance of tailored and targeted interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder, facilitating the development of cost-effective, time-efficient, evidence-based treatments.