Children and Adolescents With Neuromotor ImpairmentLbyTNCT06797050
A Story for Pepper & Nao
A study testing Training in reordering figurative stories with a social robot through the Learning by Teaching approach in people with Children and Adolescents With Neuromotor Impairment, run by IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris at 3 sites in Italy.
Trial summary
The aim of the present study is to improve cognitive processes that are frequently impaired in children characterised by neuromotor impairment, such as the skills of visual-perceptual analysis and selective attention, working memory, narrative organisation, logical-inferential reasoning and motor planning. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 7 to 16 years
- Conditions the study is for
- Children and Adolescents With Neuromotor Impairment
- What is being tested?
- Training in reordering figurative stories with a social robot through the Learning by Teaching approach
- Type of treatment
- Pill or oral medicine, Medical device
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 80 participants
- Where
- 3 sitesItaly
- Study dates
- 1 Apr 2025to 30 Oct 2026
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 7 to 16 years
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Child
Who may be able to join
- Children characterized by neuromotor impairment
- Presence of at least one cognitive index >70 at WISC-IV or WISC V
- Age between 7 and 16 years at the time of recruitment
Who cannot join
- Severe neurological, motor, or sensory deficit such as to preclude the feasibility of training
- Psychiatric comorbidity such as to preclude the feasibility of training
Trial locations and contacts
3 sites in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Italy3 sites, 1 recruiting
- Active, not recruiting
IRCCS Eugenio Medea
Bosisio Parini, Lecco, 23842
- Recruiting
IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris
Calambrone, Pisa, 56128
Giuseppina Sgandurra, PhD, MD, 050/886233, giuseppina.sgandurra@fsm.unipi.it
- Active, not recruiting
IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Naz.le C.Mondino
Pavia, Pavia, 27100
About this study
Official title: A Story for Pepper and Nao: Applying the Learning by Teaching Paradigm in Children With Patterns of Neuromotor Impairment
The aim of the present study is to improve cognitive processes that are frequently impaired in children characterised by neuromotor impairment, such as the skills of visual-perceptual analysis and selective attention, working memory, narrative organisation, logical-inferential reasoning and motor planning. For this purpose, a task of reordering figurative stories and action sequences, which include the aforementioned processes, will be used through an innovative Learning by Teaching training paradigm with a social robot. Furthermore, the study aims to verify the children's level of behavioural, cognitive and emotional engagement during the interaction with the social robot and to test the generalisation effects of the intervention on other processes, such as working memory, inhibition and planning.
Read the detailed description
The use of social robots in children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Disabilities is becoming increasingly common in both educational and clinical settings. Several studies have shown that the presence of social robots during learning can increase children's engagement, consequently improving academic achievement, as the presence of the robot appears to positively influence attention, satisfaction, and engagement in the proposed activities. Engagement is a complex component that includes emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aspects. The emotional component concerns the emotions felt during the activity, the cognitive component involves attention and active participation, and the behavioral component refers to the user's proactivity and adaptability in the interaction. An innovative approach of using social robots is the Learning by Teaching paradigm, where children teach the robots, thus promoting their sense of self-efficacy and motivation, as well as the ability to put themselves in each other's shoes (Theory of Mind). This method helps develop Executive Functions, such as planning, problem solving and reasoning, which are crucial to various aspects of daily life. Skills that are often vulnerable in children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Disabilities, consequently associating with poor performance in school learning, including text comprehension and production, which require good decoding skills, logical reasoning, selective attention, interference control, working memory and metacognitive strategies. Several studies have also shown that children with neuromotor impairment pictures, such as Motor Coordination Disorder (DCD) or Cerebral Palsy (CP), often have difficulties in motor planning skills, which become worse with the specificity of the motor problem. A "picture sequencing" task, which involves arranging pictures in order to create a finalized story or movement, can support multiple higher cognitive processes, such as working memory, attention, reasoning, and planning. This task, embedded in the Learning by Teaching paradigm with a social robot, could amplify the development of these processes due to the high levels of engagement and the requirement to take on the robot's role as teacher. In order to test the effectiveness of the treatment in improving the skills of visual-perceptual analysis, selective attention, working memory, narrative organization, logical-inferential reasoning and motor planning, 80 children with neuromotor difficulties will be randomly assigned to either the Experimental Group, which will immediately begin treatment with the social robot for about 4 months on a biweekly schedule, or to the Control Group, which will begin training after about 4 months. In addition, the study aims to test the children's level of behavioral, cognitive and emotional engagement during interaction with the social robot, through the use of sensors, eye-tracking and video cameras; as well as to test the generalization effects of the intervention on other processes, such as working memory, inhibition and planning.
- Being tested
- Training in reordering figurative stories with a social robot through the Learning by Teaching approach
- Keywords
- Learning by teaching, Social robot, Children, Neuromotor impairment, Executive Functions, Engagement
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Training in reordering figurative stories with a social robot through the Learning by Teaching approachDevice
A test session of the 'picture sequencing' task with the social robot is planned. The selected children will undergo an initial neuropsychological, motor and school learning assessment and will be divided into Group 1 and Group 2: Group 1 (Experimental) will be offered training with the social robot, while Group 2 (Control) will continue standard care. Both groups will be re-evaluated after approximately about 4 months. After which Group 2 will be able to start treatment. After about 4 months, the children in both groups will again undergo the planned assessments. During the training, the child will be asked to help the social robot to reorder sequences of pictures from figurative stories in order to create a story that respects temporal or causal links, or motor actions of increasing complexity, according to the Learning by Teaching paradigm.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Group 1 (Experimental Group) | Experimental | The experimental group, following an initial assessment, will carry out the training. The child will be asked to help the social robot, which will provide relational and learning feedback, to reorder sequences of images from figurative stories, in order to create a story that respects temporal or causal links, or motor actions of increasing complexity, according to the Learning by Teaching paradigm. The images, which will appear on the social robot's tablet, will be presented with increasing complexity and numerosity, and in the case of difficulty, facilitation will be provided in such a way as to encourage 'mistake-free' learning. In each session (approx. 20-25), on a bi-weekly basis, will be an operator will be present. The engagement experienced by the child on an emotional, behavioural and cognitive level will be measured. A second assessment is scheduled at the end of the training and a third after about 4 months. Receives: Device: Training in reordering figurative stories with a social robot through the Learning by Teaching approach |
| Group 2 (Control group) | No intervention | After an initial assessment, children assigned to the control group will be asked to continue with what they normally do (standard care). Only after a period of about four months, following the second assessment they will begin treatment with the social robot, described for the experimental group. |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
score of Picture Arrangement subtest at WISC-III
In this study, examiners will administer the Picture Arrangement subtest of the WISC-III (Wechsler, 1991), in which children are presented with a series of cards in random order that need to be placed in the correct order to tell a meaningful story.
Measured: 1-16 months
score of a Motor Planning test
In this study, examiners will assess changes in motor planning skills as measured by a purpose-built test.
Measured: 1-16 months
Secondary outcomes (14)
score of Corsi block-tapping subtest at the BVS-Corsi
In this study, examiners will administer the Corsi block-tapping subtets at the BVS-Corsi (Mammarella et al., 2008), to evaluate visuo-spatial short term and working memory. The child is asked to retrieve a sequences previously seen by the examiner by tapping blocks with the preferred finger following the same order for the forward condition or reversing the order for the backward condition.
Measured: 1-16 months
score of Tower of London test
In this study, examiners will administer the Tower of London test (Fancello et al., 2006; Gugliotta et al., 2009) to assesses the planning ability. There are three pegs of different lengths, into which three marbles are threaded the subject has to move these marbles in a certain number of moves in order to achieve the configuration indicated by the examiner
Measured: 1-16 months
score of the Sustained Attention subtest at the Leiter-3
In this study, the examininers will use the Sustained Attention subtest at the Leiter International Performance Scale Leiter-3 (Roid et al., 2013), which assesses visual attention and consist of repetitive barrage tasks to be performed in a predefinited time.
Measured: 1-16 months
score of Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function for parents (BRIEF-2)
In this study, examiners will administer the BRIEF-2 questionnaire (Gioia et al., 2015). This questionnaire is filled by the parents/legal guardians and dives into everyday bahaviour associated with specific domains of the Exefutive Functions (i.e., mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions). Parents rate items on a three-point scale ranging from 1 (never) to 3 (often)
Measured: 1-16 months
score of Inhibition subtest at the NEPSY-II
In this study, the examiners will assess the Inibition subtest at the NEPSY-II (Urgesi et al., 2011), in which the child will be asked to naimed different shapes according to examiners instructions.
Measured: 1-16 months
score of Verbal Fluency subtest at the NEPSY-II
In this study, the examiners will assess the Verbal Fluency subtest at the NEPSY-II (Urgesi et al., 2011), which evaluates cognitive flexibility in a word production task within a specific semantic or phonemic category.
Measured: 1-16 months
score of Animal Sorting subtest at the NEPSY-II
In this study, examiners will assess the Animal Sorting subtest at the NEPSY-II (Urgesi at al., 2011). This subtest is designed to assess the ability to formulate basic concepts, to transfer those concepts into action (sort into categories), and to shift set from one concept to another. The child sorts cards into two groups of four cards each using various self-initiated sorting criteria.
Measured: 1-16 months
score of Go/No-Go subtest at the TeleFE
In this study, the examiners will assess Go/No-Go subtest at the TeleFE (Cooperativa Sociale Anastasis), that is a web platform for the multidimensional assessment of Executive Functions. In the Go/No-Go subtest children are asked to press a button when the target stimulus.
Measured: 1-16 months
score of Text comprehension test at Prove MT-3, MT Avanzate and MT 16-19
In this study, the examiners will assess the text comprehension ability trhough Prove MT-3, MT Avanzate and MT 16-19(Cornoldi et al., 2016 and 2022). In this test, the child is asked to read a text and answer some questions related to it in order to assess text comprehension.
Measured: 1-16 months
score of Invent a story task
In this study, the examiners will assess the Invent a story task, in which children are required to orally tell a invented story in order to assess narrative production
Measured: 1-16 months
score of TVPS-4 test
In this study, the examiners will assess Test of Visual Perceptual Skills-4th Edition (TVPS-4) (Martin A., 2017) to evaluate visual-perceptual strenghts and weaknesses.
Measured: 1-16 months
score of DCDDaily-Q
In this study, examiners will administer the DCDDaily-Q (Van Der Linde et al., 2014). The DCDDaily-Q is a parental questionnaire to address children's performance in Activities of Daily Living (ADL).
Measured: 1-16 months
score of Abilhand/Abilhand kids questionnaire
In this study, the examiners will administer the Abilhand/Abilhand kids questionnaire (Penta et al., 2001; Arnould et al., 2004), that is an interview-based assessment of a patient-reported measure of the perceived difficulty in using their hand to perform manual activities in daily activities.
Measured: 1-16 months
Evaluation of engagement levels during interaction with the social robot
During the child's interaction with the social robot, three different levels of engagement will be measured: emotional through wearable sensors (e.g. Fitbit, Shimmer or similar); cognitive through eye-gazing extracted from video recordings using software such as DeepGaze or Gaze360 to assess attentional maintenance; and behavioural through video analysis of the child's postures, amount of movements, and verbal expressions. Questionnaires are also planned to assess the degree of acceptability and feasibility of the activity with the social robot
Measured: 1-16 months
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted28 Jan 2025
- Study start1 Apr 2025
- Primary completion1 Sep 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion30 Oct 2026 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (12)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Children and Adolescents With Neuromotor ImpairmentStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Crossover
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 80 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- IRCCS Eugenio Medea, IRCCS National Neurological Institute "C. Mondino" Foundation, University of Florence
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Giuseppina Sgandurra, IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06797050
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- LbyT
- Acronym
- LbyT
- Status last verified
- Apr 2025
- First submitted
- 22 Jan 2025
- Last updated
- 2 Apr 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Publications
Wotherspoon J, Whittingham K, Sheffield J, Boyd RN. Cognition and learning difficulties in a representative sample of school-aged children with cerebral palsy. Res Dev Disabil. 2023 Jul;138:104504. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2023.104504. Epub 2023 Apr 24.
PubMed 37099882Fuglerud KS, Solheim I. The Use of Social Robots for Supporting Language Training of Children. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2018;256:401-408.
PubMed 30371501Fluss J, Lidzba K. Cognitive and academic profiles in children with cerebral palsy: A narrative review. Ann Phys Rehabil Med. 2020 Oct;63(5):447-456. doi: 10.1016/j.rehab.2020.01.005. Epub 2020 Feb 19.
PubMed 32087307Fiorini L, D'Onofrio G, Sorrentino A, Cornacchia Loizzo FG, Russo S, Ciccone F, Giuliani F, Sancarlo D, Cavallo F. The Role of Coherent Robot Behavior and Embodiment in Emotion Perception and Recognition During Human-Robot Interaction: Experimental Study. JMIR Hum Factors. 2024 Jan 26;11:e45494. doi: 10.2196/45494.
PubMed 38277201Fiorini L, De Mul M, Fabbricotti I, Limosani R, Vitanza A, D'Onofrio G, Tsui M, Sancarlo D, Giuliani F, Greco A, Guiot D, Senges E, Cavallo F. Assistive robots to improve the independent living of older persons: results from a needs study. Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol. 2021 Jan;16(1):92-102. doi: 10.1080/17483107.2019.1642392. Epub 2019 Jul 22.
PubMed 31329000Dionne E, Bolduc ME, Majnemer A, Beauchamp MH, Brossard-Racine M. Academic Challenges in Developmental Coordination Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Phys Occup Ther Pediatr. 2023;43(1):34-57. doi: 10.1080/01942638.2022.2073801. Epub 2022 May 24.
PubMed 35611495Diamond A. Executive functions. Annu Rev Psychol. 2013;64:135-68. doi: 10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750. Epub 2012 Sep 27.
PubMed 23020641Di Lieto MC, Pecini C, Castro E, Inguaggiato E, Cecchi F, Dario P, Cioni G, Sgandurra G. Empowering Executive Functions in 5- and 6-Year-Old Typically Developing Children Through Educational Robotics: An RCT Study. Front Psychol. 2020 Feb 5;10:3084. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03084. eCollection 2019.
PubMed 32116879https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-021-10205-x
Belpaeme T, Kennedy J, Ramachandran A, Scassellati B, Tanaka F. Social robots for education: A review. Sci Robot. 2018 Aug 15;3(21):eaat5954. doi: 10.1126/scirobotics.aat5954. Epub 2018 Aug 15.
PubMed 33141719Beani E, Filogna S, Martini G, Barzacchi V, Ferrari A, Guidi E, Menici V, Cioni G, Sgandurra G. Application of Virtual Reality Rehabilitation System for the assessment of postural control while standing in typical children and peers with neurodevelopmental disorders. Gait Posture. 2022 Feb;92:364-370. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2021.12.008. Epub 2021 Dec 10.
PubMed 34923256Adams IL, Lust JM, Wilson PH, Steenbergen B. Compromised motor control in children with DCD: a deficit in the internal model?-A systematic review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2014 Nov;47:225-44. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.08.011. Epub 2014 Sep 1.
PubMed 25193246
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 2 Apr 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- A Story for Pepper and Nao: Applying the Learning by Teaching Paradigm in Children With Patterns of Neuromotor Impairment
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06797050
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- LbyT / LbyT
- Keywords
- Learning by teaching, Social robot, Children, Neuromotor impairment, Executive Functions, Engagement
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 80 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- IRCCS Fondazione Stella MarisUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- IRCCS Eugenio Medea, IRCCS National Neurological Institute "C. Mondino" Foundation, University of Florence
- Study start
- 1 Apr 2025 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 1 Sep 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 30 Oct 2026 (estimated)
- First posted
- 28 Jan 2025 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The aim of the present study is to improve cognitive processes that are frequently impaired in children characterised by neuromotor impairment, such as the skills of visual-perceptual analysis and selective attention, working memory, narrative organisation, logical-inferential reasoning and motor planning. For this purpose, a task of reordering figurative stories and action sequences, which include the aforementioned processes, will be used through an innovative Learning by Teaching training paradigm with a social robot. Furthermore, the study aims to verify the children's level of behavioural, cognitive and emotional engagement during the interaction with the social robot and to test the generalisation effects of the intervention on other processes, such as working memory, inhibition and planning.
Detailed description
The use of social robots in children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Disabilities is becoming increasingly common in both educational and clinical settings. Several studies have shown that the presence of social robots during learning can increase children's engagement, consequently improving academic achievement, as the presence of the robot appears to positively influence attention, satisfaction, and engagement in the proposed activities. Engagement is a complex component that includes emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aspects. The emotional component concerns the emotions felt during the activity, the cognitive component involves attention and active participation, and the behavioral component refers to the user's proactivity and adaptability in the interaction. An innovative approach of using social robots is the Learning by Teaching paradigm, where children teach the robots, thus promoting their sense of self-efficacy and motivation, as well as the ability to put themselves in each other's shoes (Theory of Mind). This method helps develop Executive Functions, such as planning, problem solving and reasoning, which are crucial to various aspects of daily life. Skills that are often vulnerable in children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Disabilities, consequently associating with poor performance in school learning, including text comprehension and production, which require good decoding skills, logical reasoning, selective attention, interference control, working memory and metacognitive strategies. Several studies have also shown that children with neuromotor impairment pictures, such as Motor Coordination Disorder (DCD) or Cerebral Palsy (CP), often have difficulties in motor planning skills, which become worse with the specificity of the motor problem. A "picture sequencing" task, which involves arranging pictures in order to create a finalized story or movement, can support multiple higher cognitive processes, such as working memory, attention, reasoning, and planning. This task, embedded in the Learning by Teaching paradigm with a social robot, could amplify the development of these processes due to the high levels of engagement and the requirement to take on the robot's role as teacher. In order to test the effectiveness of the treatment in improving the skills of visual-perceptual analysis, selective attention, working memory, narrative organization, logical-inferential reasoning and motor planning, 80 children with neuromotor difficulties will be randomly assigned to either the Experimental Group, which will immediately begin treatment with the social robot for about 4 months on a biweekly schedule, or to the Control Group, which will begin training after about 4 months. In addition, the study aims to test the children's level of behavioral, cognitive and emotional engagement during interaction with the social robot, through the use of sensors, eye-tracking and video cameras; as well as to test the generalization effects of the intervention on other processes, such as working memory, inhibition and planning.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Crossover
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Group 1 (Experimental Group) | Experimental | Device: Training in reordering figurative stories with a social robot through the Learning by Teaching approachThe experimental group, following an initial assessment, will carry out the training. The child will be asked to help the social robot, which will provide relational and learning feedback, to reorder sequences of images from figurative stories, in order to create a story that respects temporal or causal links, or motor actions of increasing complexity, according to the Learning by Teaching paradigm. The images, which will appear on the social robot's tablet, will be presented with increasing complexity and numerosity, and in the case of difficulty, facilitation will be provided in such a way as to encourage 'mistake-free' learning. In each session (approx. 20-25), on a bi-weekly basis, will be an operator will be present. The engagement experienced by the child on an emotional, behavioural and cognitive level will be measured. A second assessment is scheduled at the end of the training and a third after about 4 months. |
| Group 2 (Control group) | No intervention | –After an initial assessment, children assigned to the control group will be asked to continue with what they normally do (standard care). Only after a period of about four months, following the second assessment they will begin treatment with the social robot, described for the experimental group. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 7 to 16 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Child
Key inclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Children characterized by neuromotor impairment
- Presence of at least one cognitive index >70 at WISC-IV or WISC V
- Age between 7 and 16 years at the time of recruitment
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Severe neurological, motor, or sensory deficit such as to preclude the feasibility of training
- Psychiatric comorbidity such as to preclude the feasibility of training
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Training in reordering figurative stories with a social robot through the Learning by Teaching approachA test session of the 'picture sequencing' task with the social robot is planned. The selected children will undergo an initial neuropsychological, motor and school learning assessment and will be divided into Group 1 and Group 2: Group 1 (Experimental) will be offered training with the social robot, while Group 2 (Control) will continue standard care. Both groups will be re-evaluated after approximately about 4 months. After which Group 2 will be able to start treatment. After about 4 months, the children in both groups will again undergo the planned assessments. During the training, the child will be asked to help the social robot to reorder sequences of pictures from figurative stories in order to create a story that respects temporal or causal links, or motor actions of increasing complexity, according to the Learning by Teaching paradigm. | Device | Group 1 (Experimental Group) |
Primary outcome
score of Picture Arrangement subtest at WISC-III
Time frame: 1-16 months
In this study, examiners will administer the Picture Arrangement subtest of the WISC-III (Wechsler, 1991), in which children are presented with a series of cards in random order that need to be placed in the correct order to tell a meaningful story.
score of a Motor Planning test
Time frame: 1-16 months
In this study, examiners will assess changes in motor planning skills as measured by a purpose-built test.
14 secondary outcomes
score of Corsi block-tapping subtest at the BVS-Corsi
Time frame: 1-16 months
score of Tower of London test
Time frame: 1-16 months
score of the Sustained Attention subtest at the Leiter-3
Time frame: 1-16 months
score of Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function for parents (BRIEF-2)
Time frame: 1-16 months
score of Inhibition subtest at the NEPSY-II
Time frame: 1-16 months
score of Verbal Fluency subtest at the NEPSY-II
Time frame: 1-16 months
score of Animal Sorting subtest at the NEPSY-II
Time frame: 1-16 months
score of Go/No-Go subtest at the TeleFE
Time frame: 1-16 months
score of Text comprehension test at Prove MT-3, MT Avanzate and MT 16-19
Time frame: 1-16 months
score of Invent a story task
Time frame: 1-16 months
score of TVPS-4 test
Time frame: 1-16 months
score of DCDDaily-Q
Time frame: 1-16 months
score of Abilhand/Abilhand kids questionnaire
Time frame: 1-16 months
Evaluation of engagement levels during interaction with the social robot
Time frame: 1-16 months
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 2 Apr 2026.
- Background: PubMed 37099882Wotherspoon J, Whittingham K, Sheffield J, Boyd RN. Cognition and learning difficulties in a representative sample of school-aged children with cerebral palsy. Res Dev Disabil. 2023 Jul;138:104504. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2023.104504. Epub 2023 Apr 24.
- Background: PubMed 30371501Fuglerud KS, Solheim I. The Use of Social Robots for Supporting Language Training of Children. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2018;256:401-408.
- Background: PubMed 32087307Fluss J, Lidzba K. Cognitive and academic profiles in children with cerebral palsy: A narrative review. Ann Phys Rehabil Med. 2020 Oct;63(5):447-456. doi: 10.1016/j.rehab.2020.01.005. Epub 2020 Feb 19.
- Background: PubMed 38277201Fiorini L, D'Onofrio G, Sorrentino A, Cornacchia Loizzo FG, Russo S, Ciccone F, Giuliani F, Sancarlo D, Cavallo F. The Role of Coherent Robot Behavior and Embodiment in Emotion Perception and Recognition During Human-Robot Interaction: Experimental Study. JMIR Hum Factors. 2024 Jan 26;11:e45494. doi: 10.2196/45494.
- Background: PubMed 31329000Fiorini L, De Mul M, Fabbricotti I, Limosani R, Vitanza A, D'Onofrio G, Tsui M, Sancarlo D, Giuliani F, Greco A, Guiot D, Senges E, Cavallo F. Assistive robots to improve the independent living of older persons: results from a needs study. Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol. 2021 Jan;16(1):92-102. doi: 10.1080/17483107.2019.1642392. Epub 2019 Jul 22.
- Background: PubMed 35611495Dionne E, Bolduc ME, Majnemer A, Beauchamp MH, Brossard-Racine M. Academic Challenges in Developmental Coordination Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Phys Occup Ther Pediatr. 2023;43(1):34-57. doi: 10.1080/01942638.2022.2073801. Epub 2022 May 24.
- Background: PubMed 23020641Diamond A. Executive functions. Annu Rev Psychol. 2013;64:135-68. doi: 10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750. Epub 2012 Sep 27.
- Background: PubMed 32116879Di Lieto MC, Pecini C, Castro E, Inguaggiato E, Cecchi F, Dario P, Cioni G, Sgandurra G. Empowering Executive Functions in 5- and 6-Year-Old Typically Developing Children Through Educational Robotics: An RCT Study. Front Psychol. 2020 Feb 5;10:3084. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03084. eCollection 2019.
- Backgroundhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-021-10205-x
- Background: PubMed 33141719Belpaeme T, Kennedy J, Ramachandran A, Scassellati B, Tanaka F. Social robots for education: A review. Sci Robot. 2018 Aug 15;3(21):eaat5954. doi: 10.1126/scirobotics.aat5954. Epub 2018 Aug 15.
- Background: PubMed 34923256Beani E, Filogna S, Martini G, Barzacchi V, Ferrari A, Guidi E, Menici V, Cioni G, Sgandurra G. Application of Virtual Reality Rehabilitation System for the assessment of postural control while standing in typical children and peers with neurodevelopmental disorders. Gait Posture. 2022 Feb;92:364-370. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2021.12.008. Epub 2021 Dec 10.
- Background: PubMed 25193246Adams IL, Lust JM, Wilson PH, Steenbergen B. Compromised motor control in children with DCD: a deficit in the internal model?-A systematic review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2014 Nov;47:225-44. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.08.011. Epub 2014 Sep 1.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
3 sites in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Training in reordering figurative stories with a social robot through the Learning by Teaching approach in people with Children and Adolescents With Neuromotor Impairment, run by IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris at 3 sites in Italy.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 2 Apr 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 3 sites in Italy. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Giuseppina Sgandurra, PhD, MD (050/886233, giuseppina.sgandurra@fsm.unipi.it), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
score of Picture Arrangement subtest at WISC-III (time frame: 1-16 months). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT06797050, which also lists 12 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 2 Apr 2026; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 2 Nov 2026.