{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T17:04:35Z","timestamp":1786122275237,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":62,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786060800000},"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>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Autistic children are increasingly engaging with social robots in educational and support contexts, but limited research has compared the perceptual and design preferences of autistic and neurotypical children.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This mixed-methods study examined the robot design preferences of 43 children aged 3\u201315 years, including 21 autistic and 22 neurotypical children, and included semi-structured interviews with 11 adult stakeholders, comprising six experts and five non-experts. Quantitative analyses explored relationships between robot preference and perceptual features, including size, color, movement, voice, and anthropomorphism, while qualitative thematic and co-occurrence analyses examined perceived benefits, ethical issues, accessibility challenges, and ideal design characteristics.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Perceptual characteristics, particularly movement intensity and color multiplicity, influenced robot preference. Across groups, children generally preferred humanoid robots with soft voices and eye movement. Gender-related differences appeared more consistent than diagnostic differences in preferences for size and movement speed. Autistic children highlighted playful and social interaction functions and showed greater variability in preferred personality-related traits. Qualitative findings indicated strong interest in robot-supported interactions, while also raising concerns about accessibility and possible emotional dependency.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>These findings suggest that inclusive social robot design should prioritize modificable sensory features, moderated anthropomorphism, predictable interaction patterns, and personalization mechanisms that account for individual, gender-related, and diagnostic differences.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/frobt.2026.1812453","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T08:42:46Z","timestamp":1786092166000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Gender and diagnostic differences in children\u2019s preferences for social robot design. 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