{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,13]],"date-time":"2026-03-13T08:57:58Z","timestamp":1773392278556,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,1]],"date-time":"2025-10-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1759276800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Robot. AI"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>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.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>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.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>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.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>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.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/frobt.2025.1646880","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,1]],"date-time":"2025-10-01T07:58:27Z","timestamp":1759305507000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Designing socially assistive robots for clinical practice: insights from an asynchronous remote community of speech-language pathologists"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Denielle","family":"Oliva","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Abbie","family":"Olszewski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shekoufeh","family":"Sadeghi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Karthik","family":"Dantu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Feil-Seifer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"367","DOI":"10.1002\/imhj.21405","article-title":"Vitality affects in daniel stern's thinking\u2014A psychological and neurobiological perspective","volume":"34","author":"Ammaniti","year":"2013","journal-title":"Infant Ment. 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