Improving Collaborative Play Between Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Their Siblings: The Effectiveness of a Robot-Mediated Intervention Based on Lego® Therapy.

Huskens et al. (2015) paired three autistic children with their brothers or sisters. Each pair played Lego together while a small robot coached them.

The robot gave hints like 'take turns' and 'ask for a brick'. The team watched taped play sessions to see if the kids shared more after the robot joined.

No pair showed more sharing, helping, or back-and-forth talk. The robot-Lego setup simply did not spark better joint play.

Rutherford et al. (2003) ran a short clinic social-skills group for autistic kids and saw gains in greeting and play. Same clinic setting, same short time, but real progress.

Cramm et al. (2009) used 12 weeks of horseback riding and also lifted social motivation. Horses worked; the robot did not.

Laposa et al. (2017) warns that parents often report 'improvement' even when nothing was done. Bibi’s null result may be the honest picture, not a fluke.

If you want siblings to play nicer, a brief robot helper is not enough. Use proven packages like structured social-skills groups or add extra home practice. Always check real video, not just parent recall, before you call an intervention a win.