This paper examines the benefits of music therapy for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It defines music therapy as a clinical and creative arts intervention involving techniques such as singing, instrument playing, and improvisation. The paper outlines how autistic children demonstrate heightened sensitivity to anxiety and how rhythmic or classical music can provide relief through predictability. It further discusses how music therapy supports improvements in communication, social interaction, cognitive functioning, sensory processing, and emotional responsiveness, and explains how therapists can tailor sessions to address each child's unique challenges.
Music therapy involves incorporating music into the therapist-patient relationship to promote the patient's physiological, psychological, emotional, and social health. It can be considered a part of creative arts treatment, clinical treatment, or supplementary treatment relative to the conventional medical model. Music therapy encompasses numerous techniques such as playing a musical instrument, singing, listening to music, and improvisation (McCaffrey 42).
Autism spectrum disorder represents a lasting developmental disability that evolves at different levels of severity. The condition is marked by three key characteristics: challenges when it comes to forging social bonds; intense, restricted, and often obsessive interests; and difficulties communicating both verbally and non-verbally (National Autistic Society 1).
Autistic children display greater sensitivity to anxiety compared to non-autistic children, since they cannot effectively filter out triggering stimuli. Steady rhythmic music or classical pieces are considered ideal for relieving anxiety among autistic children because of their beat predictability. Most notably, music therapy can engage autistic children and help them find enjoyment in the therapeutic process.
Music therapy can elicit social, behavioral, and cognitive changes only if it is carried out repeatedly over long periods of time. The most effective means of keeping children consistently engaged is ensuring they are enjoying the experience. Much like other forms of play, music therapy is an activity autistic children can participate in without feeling it is anything other than a leisure activity (Autism Science Foundation para. 11).
Autistic individuals display equivalent or even superior skills in the areas of pitch processing, musical preference, and labeling emotions within music, compared to neurotypically developing individuals. The strongest evidence in support of music therapy's clinical advantages lies in the domain of socio-emotional interaction and responsiveness. This includes greater engagement and compliance, decreased anxiety, improved speech output, responsive labeling, better interactions with others, and lower levels of vocal stereotypy. Preliminary findings also support music's potential in aiding everyday-routine learning (Rudy para. 4).
Music therapy may help autistic individuals improve their communication, cognitive, behavioral, sensory, motor/perceptual, self-determination, and social capabilities. Therapists identify music experiences that elicit positive emotions in a given client, build trust, and form personal connections. Autistic individuals often display a particular responsiveness to and interest in music. Because music engages and inspires, therapists can use it as a natural form of reinforcement to elicit desired responses.
Moreover, music therapy may help individuals who exhibit sensory aversion to particular sounds address their auditory processing differences or sound sensitivities. Parents may find it valuable to seek the services of a music therapist if their autistic child already reacts positively to and enjoys music (Rudy para. 5).
Treatment using music may be effective in the area of speech as well. Several autistic children have been found to feel more at ease harmonizing or singing with music compared to talking. Therefore, a communication-through-music session may also be incorporated to improve interactions with an autistic child. This can be achieved by singing repeated phrases set to music, which may subsequently be used in everyday life. Similarly, children may simply find it enjoyable to harmonize with music, thereby building their confidence (Manfred para. 5).
"Music therapy supports multiple developmental domains"
"Singing and music as pathways to verbal communication"
"Tailoring music therapy to each child's unique needs"
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.