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Music Therapy's Effectiveness for Children on the Autism Spectrum

Started Jan. 24, 2022

Abstract or project description

Music has always been used to alter our moods on a day to day basis, but in recent years music therapy has become increasingly more popular in the scientific field as it has helped many widespread populations. Specifically, I investigate how different methodologies of music therapy impact children with special needs. By reviewing music therapy journals, developmental research, and autism research, I found that music therapy has proven useful for helping children with special needs develop better social responsiveness, cognitive skills, physical development, communication abilities, and behavioral and joint attention skills. These sources provide a deep look into multiple case studies that experiment with the effectiveness of music therapy through how music therapy impacts therapist-child connections, family-child connections, and the child itself. When these connections are successfully fostered, they have been found to aid children with special needs learn new behaviors and become more active participants in the therapy as they grow out of their introverted shell. Therefore, music therapy has proven to be very helpful for this population and has led to the positive growth of numerous children with special needs. This information should be used by clinical music therapists to enhance the effectiveness of their sessions.