Music therapy

Is anyone familiar with this? I see its is sometimes recommended for autism. Any research?

I hope families, or individuals on the autism spectrum, will report on their experience of music therapy here.

So far, there have been only very small studies conducted on the effectiveness of music therapy for people with autism. Results are hopeful, but more research is needed. Specifically, studies need to take place that include larger numbers of children; have a control group; and clearly define exactly what "music therapy" consists of.

One 2006 review of three small studies stated: "These examined the short-term effect of brief music therapy interventions (daily sessions over one week) for autistic children. Music therapy was superior to "placebo" therapy with respect to verbal and gestural communicative skills." They went on to say that behavior problems were not impacted.

See: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16625601

A study published in 2009 compared the response of children with autism to music therapy or play therapy. The authors said: "Improvisational music therapy produced markedly more and longer events of 'joy', 'emotional synchronicity' and 'initiation of engagement' behaviours in the children than toy play sessions. In response to the therapist's interpersonal demands, 'compliant (positive) responses' were observed more in music therapy than in toy play sessions, and 'no responses' were twice as frequent in toy play sessions as in music therapy. The results of this exploratory study found significant evidence supporting the value of music therapy in promoting social, emotional and motivational development in children with autism."

Do keep in mind, though, that this study involved only 10 children! See: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19535468?dopt=abstract

One key aspect of studying music therapy, and making it useful for clinicians or therapists out in the rest of the world, will be to develop and test specific programs carried out in specific ways. In other words, you need some kind of Program Book that describes and explains exactly what a therapist is to do with children, why they're doing it, and how they're measuring success. This is where research is now with regard to Social Skills Training, and it is likely Music Therapy will also need to be better defined.

For our article on Social Skills Training: http://iancommunity.org/cs/what_do_we_know/social_skills_interventions