Music Therapy for Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders

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Abstract

Music therapy is a clinical and research-based use of music for interventions to accomplish therapeutic healing by a registered music therapist on a patient. The idea of music therapy is to enable patients, who are unable to talk, to use musical activities to express their emotions in songwriting, dancing, singing and playing the musical instruments. To administer music therapy, we require an approved therapist to assess the patients to determine their therapeutic needs. The therapists then provide a goal, schedule and times per week to visit the patient, performs the therapy as planned and evaluates the success of the therapy sessions at certain interval times. ASD is a combination of developmental disorders that affect the skills, behaviors, and levels of abilities in an individual. ASD affects both adults and children. The disorder can be detected after three years for children by their parents. In older children, the teachers or family doctors may detect such symptoms. The earlier the detection, the easier it will be to treat the disorder. For earlier treatment, it is paramount parents to be vigilante on the symptoms for ASD by consulting specialists in autism. The symptoms are in the behavioral symptoms and social interaction behaviors. ASD in children can be treated when caught earlier in developmental stages. Children display similar symptoms to ASD as adults with an addition of sensory problems, emotional difficulties, and uneven cognitive abilities. The methods of diagnosing to confirm ASD requires experts. Music therapy is one of the treatment methods that has proven to be successful in the treatment of children with ASD. Through the musical activities administered by musical therapists, music therapy has helped improve emotional responses, reduce anxiety in children, and improve communication skills of these children in their peer groups. Music therapy has shown that these children have superior abilities compared to their peers. Music therapy is, therefore, beneficial in the treatment of children with ASD and should be considered just like any other treatment.

Music Therapy

Music therapy refers to the clinical and research-based use of music for interventions to accomplish therapeutic healing and relationship by a proven professional in the field of musical therapy program in a higher education system ("Definition and Quotes about Music Therapy", 2017). The therapeutic relationship when using music addresses physical, emotional, mental, cognitive and social needs of a person.

Music Therapy was initially used in the medical field for children with special needs in the early-mid-1900s in the United States. Its use then became widespread to the United Kingdom in the 1950s to 1960s. The therapeutic intervention then spread its reach to other parts of the world.

Idea behind Music Therapy

Music therapy has proven to give people who cannot easily communicate, a way of interacting and communicating. That instead of using words to talk, mainly if they cannot talk, they can use a range of musical activities like singing, playing instruments, songwriting and listening to music ("What is Music Therapy?", 2012). These activities are aimed at promoting social skills like making eye contact and communication like drumming in sequences.

Music therapists use musical activities to teach new skills. The integrating of new skills happens when they pair the skills with a musical activity until the patient has learned to respond to the cues. Gradually, once they learn the skills, the cues will fade. When the patient has learned the skills, the music cues are phased out.

Stages of Music Therapy

The administering of musical therapy is done professionally. Music therapy involves the following stages ("Music therapy for children with autism", 2017):

Therapeutic Assessment is done to the patients. Music therapy assesses the needs and strengths of the patients. The therapist may consult with the patient’s medical history or the patient’s doctor to determine the presence of other ailments.

The therapist then sets goals to which musical instruments to use and which activities to match for the patient. The Therapist will provide a schedule to teach the patient, and the time it will take to complete the therapy session.

The therapy the sets out to start the therapy sessions according to the schedule they put forward to teach the patient. The activities could include songwriting, moving to music, singing, playing instruments, listening to music, working in groups, tap dancing and improvising.

Evaluation of the program should regularly be conducted to make sure that it is successful in teaching the patient. The evaluations are like tests done to patients after a predetermined time. The therapy sessions can either be one-on-one or in groups. The session’s duration will depend on the needs and age of the patients. For children, music therapy will take place once a week for about 30-60 minutes. Those who have severe conditions will take more extended sessions to make it productive for the patient.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the term for a group of developmental disorders. ASD comprises a broad spectrum of symptoms, skills, and levels of disability in a person or a child. People with ASD often display the following features like difficulty socializing, communicating or interacting with other people. People with ASD show repetitive behaviors or actions with limited interests. They also might have symptoms that hurt a person’s ability to be social at school or work or other areas of their daily lives. ASD might show some the above symptoms in children that are usually recognizable in the first two years of their lives (National Institute of Mental Health, 2017).

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2009) research, around 1 in 68 kids have been identified with a form of ASD. Parents or doctors are often the first to identify ASD behaviors in children and young adults. The school staff may identify the behavioral symptoms for older children. There are two main types of ASD behaviors: Restrictive/repetitive behaviors and social communication/interaction behaviors

Restrictive/repetitive behaviors

These ASD behaviors may include repeating particular actions or behaviors in certain moments. The individual may have an overly focused interest in an activity such as a moving object. The individual may also have a lasting and particular interest in specific subjects and topics such as numbers, facts, or details in art.

Social communication/interaction behaviors

These ASD behaviors may include getting enraged by a slight change in a routine or even entering a new place with over stimulating changes in light. The individuals may make little or inconsistent eye contact with people in an enclosure. The individuals may rarely share objects of enjoyment with others. The individual may respond in a queer way when other show anger, affection or distress. The individual may talk about a favorite topic without noticing the disinterest in the group of listeners. The individual may fail or be slow to respond to someone calling their name to gain their attention. The Individual may have facial expressions, gestures, and movements that do not match what they say. The individual may use odd words, that may be out of place, or that have special meaning to those familiar with is a way of speech.

Aside from the symptoms of behaviors, ASD individuals are unique and special because of their strengths and abilities that may include having a gifted intellect. The CDC reports (2012) suggest that 46% of ASD children have above average intelligence. Individuals can learn most things in detail and remember this information for a long time. The individuals have a high visual and auditory ability to learn. The individuals excel in Math, Science, Music, or Art subjects.

Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children

Every child with autism is on the autism spectrum and has unique abilities, difficulties, challenges, and symptoms. Knowing the various ASDs will help you better understand your child as a parent. Knowing will help you get a handle on what the different ASDs mean, and eventually, it will help one learn to communicate with the doctors, teachers, and therapists who will help your child (Smith, 2016).

Symptoms of ASD in Children

Having a few autism-like symptoms does not mean that a child has autism. ASD is diagnosed based on the presence of multiple symptoms that interrupt a child’s ability to communicate, explore, play, form relationships and learn (Smith, 2016).

Symptoms based on their social behavior and understanding for children include unusual or inappropriate body language, facial expressions, and gesture that do not match what they say. The child will show an absence of interest in other people’s achievements or interests. The child prefers to be alone. The child is resistant to direct contact. The child is unable to make friends of the same age. The child has a difficulty understanding other people’s feelings, reactions, and nonverbal cues.

Symptoms based on the speech and language for children include a delay in learning how to speak or not speaking at all after the age of two. The child may be speaking in an abnormal tone, or odd pitch or rhythm. The child may have trouble starting a conversation or sometimes keeping it going. The child does not understand simple questions or statements. The child may miss verbal cues such as humor, sarcasm, or irony.Children with autism display similar symptoms with those of older people with restricted behaviors and play.

Diagnosing ASD in Children

The road to a proper diagnosis of ASD in a child requires parents to consult the qualified doctor or pediatrician. The reason for an early clinical diagnosis is that it will increase the child’s chances for overpowering his or her developmental delays. Since the diagnosis of ASD is complicated, it requires a specialist in autism who has trained and has experience in that specialized areas. For parents, the person or specialists involved in diagnosing children should include a child psychologist, child psychiatrist, speech pathologist, audiologist, physical therapist, music therapist, a developmental pediatrician and special education teacher.

The process of diagnosing ASD in children is long. Multiple tests will accurately pinpoint the child’s problems. For the evaluation, tests include a parent interview, medical examination, hearing test, observation of behaviors, lead screening, adaptive functioning assessment, speech and language evaluation, cognitive testing, and sensory-motor evaluation. The tests will help further in determining the kind of treatment the child needs.

The parental interview is the first phase of the diagnostic evaluation. The parent gives a doctor or the specialist background information about the child’s medical, behavioral, and developmental history. The doctor will also ask to know about the family’s mental and medical history. The medical examination will have a physical, neurological, genetics and lab testing. The medical exam will assist in determining the cause of the developmental problems or the co-existing conditions.

The hearing test is done to determine hearing impairments or sound sensitivities that concur with autism. A developmental specialist to watch the behavior of the child in a variety of settings to look for out of the ordinary behaviors that match ASD symptoms will do an observation. Lead screening is done to check for lead poisoning because it is recommended by the National Center for Environmental Health and also because they cause autistic-like symptoms.

A speech pathologist will evaluate the child’s speech pattern and communication abilities to check on any indicators of specific speech impairments or disorders. An intelligence test will be given to the child for a cognitive assessment. An adaptive functioning test is done to the child to evaluate their problem-solving skills in real-life circumstances and their ability to go about their daily tasks. Sensory-motor testing is done since sensory dysfunction is a symptom of autism. A physical therapist may assess the sensory processing skills of the child.

Music Therapy for Children with ASD

Teachers or music therapists do music therapy for children by integrating music with learning activities. For children with ASD, music therapy uses the interactive musical activities to improve the communication and social skills. Music has grown to become a tool used in autism therapy because it stimulates both halves of the brain, rather than one hemisphere. The therapist uses a song or musical instrument to teach a cognitive skill to a child to build self-awareness and improve their interpersonal skills ("The Benefits of Music Therapy for Autistic Children", 2017). Music encourages interaction and socializing behavior which children with autism have difficulty.

The relationship between the child and the instrument will start within, and the as the child learns which represents their difficulty in interacting with others, but as they learn to bond with the object first and the interaction with other instruments in correlation. They can then open up to interaction with others with their instruments as well.

What to Expect with Music Therapy in children with ASD

Music therapy will benefit children with autism since the sessions involve a vital communication building exercise as well as relaxing motivation and playtime (Hardy, 2013). The music therapists give time for every skill they teach to children with ASD to develop and flower with its activity. The therapists will introduce one skill at a time whether it is singing, listening, dancing, or even playing their sounds of the instrument. The general atmosphere for each class or session is a safe learning environment with patience.

Benefits of Music Therapy for Children with ASD

Research by Autism Society of America (2015) support the benefits of music therapy for people with ASD. The research highlights how individuals with autism show superior abilities in labeling of emotions in music, pitch processing, and musical preferences when compared to typically similar growing peers (Isaacson, 2017).

The research further provides compelling evidence supporting the clinical benefits of music therapy. Individuals with ASD showed social-emotional responsiveness and communication, including improved compliance, reduced anxiety, decreased vocal stereotypy, increased speech output and improved interaction with peers. The finding also provides evidence of how much it assists in the learning of daily routines for people with ASD.

The music therapy in the research has found out that the anxiety felt by people with autism can be calmed through music. The report shows how music therapy can reach learners with ASD who often express themselves through repetitive behavior. The therapeutic aspect of the music that calms them intentionally creates a different mood that corresponds to the needs, tasks, and engages their minds.

Another benefit of music therapy for children is how they can be used to develop communication skills. Children with autism who have difficulty communicating their emotions can use music to identify how they feel and the therapists can teach them the right facial expressions, introspective awareness, and tones of voices that match them. Through learning to recognize the appropriate emotional and behavioral response, children with autism can have the competence, emotional and social awareness that would not produce unwanted behaviors.

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