Designing socially assistive robots for clinical practice: insights from an asynchronous remote community of speech-language pathologists.

Introduction: Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) hold promise for augmenting speech-language therapy by addressing high caseloads and enhancing child engagement. However, many implementations remain misaligned with clinician practices and overlook expressive strategies central to speech-language pathology.

Methods: We conducted a 4-week Asynchronous Remote Community (ARC) study with thirteen licensed speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Participants engaged in weekly activities and asynchronous discussions, contributing reflective insights on emotional expression, domain-specific needs, and potential roles for SARs. The ARC format supported distributed, flexible engagement and facilitated iterative co-design through longitudinal peer dialogue. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify emerging patterns.

Results: Analysis revealed five clinician-driven design considerations for SARs: (1) the need for expressive and multi-modal communication; (2) customization of behaviors to accommodate sensory and developmental profiles; (3) adaptability of roles across therapy contexts; (4) ethical concerns surrounding overuse and fears of clinician replacement; and (5) opportunities for data tracking and personalization.

Discussion: Findings highlight clinician-informed design implications that can guide the development of socially intelligent, adaptable, and ethically grounded SARs. The ARC approach proved a viable co-design framework, enabling deeper reflection and peer-driven requirements than traditional short-term methods. This work bridges the gap between robotic capabilities and clinical expectations, underscoring the importance of embedding clinician expertise in SAR design to foster meaningful integration into speech-language interventions.