Dyslexia is a learning difficulty characterised by challenges in information processing, particularly in phonological skills, working memory, and rapid naming, which can impact students' engagement with mathematical concepts like counting, spatial awareness, and basic operations. This paper highlights the potential use of educational robots (ER) to enhance mathematics education for students with dyslexia (SwD) through inclusive, multimodal interfaces. The authors developed a low-cost, pedagogically informed educational robot aligned with the Irish mathematics curriculum to support SwD in primary schools. A human-centred design (HCD) approach was adopted through collaboration with 27 first-class students (aged 6–7), three primary school teachers, and an expert in inclusive pedagogy and special educational needs to create an accessible, engaging educational robot. The robot’s design also incorporates universal design for learning (UDL) principles, offering multiple means of engagement, representation, and expression to foster inclusive mathematics education. The prototype robot was presented at a primary school in Dublin, Ireland, receiving positive feedback from students and teachers for enhancing engagement, accessibility, and understanding of mathematics. This feedback highlights the potential of ER to transform traditional mathematics education, providing new opportunities for inclusive learning.

This study explores the integration of modular robots into children's play to promote inclusion, particularly for children with disabilities. Robotics fosters accessibility, enabling children to interact autonomously and collaboratively, overcoming physical and social barriers. However, designing robots specifically for play - rather than education or therapy - remains underexplored. This two-year project (2023-2025) takes place in inclusive educational settings with preschool and primary school children. Using a spiral development methodology and a child-centred experimental design with multiple case studies, the project examined children's interactions with robots in various play scenarios. This contribution details the second project phase, focusing on the initial experimental cycle with systematic observations of children's interactions. Key issues emerged regarding robotic functionality and scenario accessibility, leading to adjustments in robot modules, materials, and play environments. Findings suggest robots can foster spontaneous, cooperative play and enhance peer interaction. The approach, merging robotic innovation with pedagogical insight, offers valuable perspectives for designing inclusive play tools and future research.

Play is essential for child development, yet children with disabilities often face barriers to engaging in meaningful play. XXX project explores the use of robots to support inclusive play in educational settings. In the initial experimentation involving 17 children with disabilities across 14 classrooms, we compared robot-assisted and traditional toy play, and we investigated, starting from the LUDI theoretical framework, the cognitive and social dimensions of play and play enjoyment. Our results suggest that robots foster cooperative play for children with disabilities, reducing solitary play and promoting higher engagement. Additionally, while enjoyment levels were high, variability in early childhood responses suggests a need for further analysis. Finally, while unexpected play behaviors highlight the need for greater flexibility in robot design and play scenarios, this research underscores the potential of robotics in inclusive play and emphasizes the need for adaptive designs. Future work will analyze video data, and integrate findings to improve robots to enhance accessibility and participation.

Use of robots in therapeutic and educational programs is expanding, offering promising opportunities for more effective solutions in the future. Robotics have the potential to enhance lives of people with disabilities by providing educational and emotional support, communication facilitation, everyday activities assistance. Hearing loss may have a significant impact on communication by affecting sounds perception, speech and language development, interpersonal relationships, academic achievement, and emotional well-being. However, people who are deaf or hard of hearing may effectively manage these challenges and enhance their communication skills by supporting interventions, including robotics. To explore the role of robotics in improving communication among people who are deaf or hard of hearing, this study conducts a scientific literature review. A comprehensive search of multiple academic databases was conducted. Six research questions were formulated to guide the literature review. Criteria for the inclusion and exclusion of the publications were defined in advance. In the studies evaluated, robots were employed to support and improve verbal and nonverbal communication. The analysis revealed that robots are mostly used for therapeutic purposes. Use of robots for everyday activities and entertainment is also notable, though less common. This indicates a potential area for further study.

All professionals agree that evidence-based practice is the best approach for speech-language interventions. Integration of technology as new therapeutic approach has demonstrated a great promise for improving the effectiveness and delivery of therapeutic interventions. Combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches for evaluation of the innovative therapy methods offers a more comprehensive understanding of research. The acoustic measurements, phonetic and linguistic analyses are proved instruments for studying the disordered speech specificities, differentiating disordered and normal speech and even measuring therapy effectiveness. The current study presents a methodology that includes phonetic and linguistic assessment of disordered speech of children enrolled in social robots assisted and virtual reality speech and language therapy. A set of quantitative and qualitative measurements has been chosen such as speech activity duration, verbal reaction time, voice and speech parameters related to intelligibility, precise articulation and mispronunciation as well as grammar competences. The proposed methodology includes a detailed observation and phonetic-linguistic assessment of the speech and language of children enrolled in the therapy for evaluation the effectiveness of the applied innovative methods for speech therapy interventions.

Social robots are emerging as assistive tools to enhance engagement and learning in education. This study explores Learning-by-Teaching with a social robot as a support mechanism for students with varying prior knowledge. Primary school children either taught a robot or practiced independently on a tablet. While students with lower prior knowledge showed greater learning gains in the Learning-by Teaching condition, the differences were not statistically significant. However, these students spent more time engaging with the material, particularly using the help panel, suggesting deeper self reflective learning. These findings suggest that social robots can serve as assistive learning tools, fostering engagement and adaptive support. Future research will refine these interactions and assess their impact on students with learning difficulties.