The use of innovative technology in the field of Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) has gained significant attention nowadays. Despite being a promising research area, Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) have not been thoroughly studied and used in SLT. This paper makes two main contributions: firstly, providing a comprehensive review of existing research on the use of SARs to enhance communication skills in children and adolescents. Secondly, organizing the information into tables that categorize the interactive play scenarios described in the surveyed papers. The inclusion criteria for play scenarios in the tables are based only on their effectiveness for SLT proven by experimental findings. The data, systematically presented in a table format, allow readers to easily find relevant information based on various factors, such as disorder type, age, treatment technique, robot type, etc. The study concludes that the despite limited research on the use of social robots for children and adolescents with communication disorders (CD), promising outcomes have been reported. The authors discuss the methodological, technical, and ethical limitations related to the use of SARs for SLT in clinical or home environments, as well as the huge potential of conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a secondary assistive technology to facilitate speech and language interventions.

Robots become very popular in research on learning, education and rehabilitation especially for children with disabilities. Our paper presents a study of a robot-assisted speech and language therapy session with eleven hearing-impaired children who use cochlear implant(s). The study explores the opportunity of using a humanoid robot for the development of speech, language and listening skills. NAO cannot articulate, therefore, children cannot do lip-reading. We considered that this special characteristic of the robot would provoke the participating children to use actively their listening. Results showed how NAO assisted speech and language therapy sessions with hearing-impaired children who use two different communication modalities – total communication and auditory-oral. References: Arendsen, J., Janssen, J. B., Begeer, S.& Stekelenburg F. C. (2010). The use of robots in social behavior tutoring for children with ASD. 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Brain health is a critical part of well-being because it is a foundation for the ability to communicate, make decisions and solve real-life problems. Virtual reality games involve motor and sensory activities that can help to improve brain connectivity by providing an immersive and interactive experience that engages multiple brain regions simultaneously. Reinforcing sensorimotor activities influences cognitive skills and improves brain health. Sensorimotor play in virtual reality is a relatively new concept that is gaining attention as a tool for promoting brain health and cognitive abilities. It is believed that this type of play can have positive impact on brain health and cognitive function, such as improving memory, enhancing focus, and reducing stress and anxiety. The aims of the current paper are (1) – to present evidence, based on neuro correlates, of the importance of the sensorimotor play to the brain health and (2) – to propose a conceptual model for a personalized VR game design using neurocognitive feedback obtained through Brain-Computer Interface that assesses brain areas during sensorimotor stimulation.