Social robots in cognitive and speech rehabilitation for children with cerebral palsy: a scoping review

BACKGROUND: Children with cerebral palsy (CP) often experience cognitive, speech, and communication challenges that limit participation and daily functioning. Socially assistive robots (SARs) have emerged as a promising technology to support these domains, yet evidence remains fragmented across different settings, robot types, and intervention approaches. This scoping review aimed to map current research on SAR-based cognitive, speech, and communication rehabilitation for children with CP and to identify trends, gaps, and opportunities for future work. METHODS: The review followed the PRISMA-ScR framework. Six databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, and EBSCOhost) were searched for articles published between 2015 and 2025. Eligible studies involved children aged ≤ 18 years with a confirmed diagnosis of CP and used a social robot with interactive or socially oriented features as part of cognitive, speech, communication, or engagement-focused rehabilitation. Screening and data charting were performed by four reviewers. Extracted data included participant characteristics, robot type, intervention setting, rehabilitation domain, outcome measures, and key findings. Results were synthesized descriptively and thematically. RESULTS: Twenty studies met inclusion criteria. SAR interventions were delivered in clinical, educational, or home environments and commonly targeted speech production, vocabulary, symbolic play, attention, and social engagement. Across studies, SARs improved motivation, communication attempts, engagement duration, and participation. Humanoid and animaloid robots were both effective as adjunctive tools, with high acceptance among children, parents, and therapists. However, evidence is limited by small sample sizes, short intervention durations, heterogeneous outcome measures, and limited inclusion of children with severe motor or communication impairments. Few studies evaluated long-term effects or standardized rehabilitation protocols. CONCLUSIONS: Current evidence suggests that SARs are feasible and engaging tools that can enhance cognitive, speech, and communication rehabilitation for children with CP. To advance clinical integration, future research should include longer and larger trials, standardized outcome measures, personalization strategies, and assessments across functional classifications. Strengthening methodological rigor will be essential for translating SARs from prototypes into validated rehabilitation technologies. Trial registration Not applicable; this scoping review did not involve human participants in an intervention.