Who is a better teacher for children with autism? Comparison of learning outcomes between robot-based and human-based interventions in gestural production and recognition.

•Human teachers are as effective as social robots in teaching children with ASD.•Children with ASD (aged 6–12) in human and robot groups learnt gestures.•The learning outcomes in both groups were maintained for at least two weeks.•Our results shed lights on the condition of learning environment for these children.