articles&abstracts
Autism and Music Research
References compiled by
Coast Music Therapy
San Diego, California
http://www.coastmusictherapy.com
2007
Summary of Findings
Individuals with autism show equal or increased abilities in pitch processing including memory, labeling, and categorization in addition to high preference for music when compared to typically-developing peers. Preliminary findings from clinical studies show potential for interactive and individualized music strategies to enhance areas such as communication and socialization.
Allgood, N. (2005). Parents’ perception of family-based group music therapy for children with autism spectrum disorders. Music Therapy Perspectives, 23(2), 92-99. (parents responded positively to a 7-week family-based group music therapy intervention and articulated new insights about themselves and their children)
Bonnel, A., Mottron, L., Peretz, I., Trudel, M., Gallun, E., & Bonnel, AM. (2003). Enhanced pitch sensitivity in individuals with autism: a signal detection analysis. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 15(2), 226-35. (pitch processing is enhanced in “high-functioning” autism for discrimination and categorization compared to a control group)
Brown, W.A., Cammuso, K., Sachs, H., Winklosky, B., Mullane, J., Bernier, R., Svenson, S., Arin, D., Rosen-Sheidley, B., & Folstein, S.E. (2003). Autism-related language, personality, and cognition in people with absolute pitch: results of a preliminary study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 33(2), 163-7. (speculates that the genes that underlie absolute pitch may be among the genes that contribute to autism)
Brownell, M. (2002). Musically adapted social stories to modify behaviors in students with autism: four case studies. Journal of Music Therapy, 39(2), 117-144. (use of musical-social stories was equally effective to reading of social stories in 3 of 4 cases, and significantly more effective in one of the cases)
Buday, E.M. (1995). The effects of signed and spoken words taught with music on sign and speech imitation by children with autism. Journal of Music Therapy, 32(3), 189-202. (imitation of sign and speech in conjunction with music or rhythm favored use of music over rhythm training)
Ceponiene, R., Lepisto, T., Shestakova, A., Vanhala, R., Alku, P., Naatanen, R., & Yaguchi, K. (2003). Speech-sound-selective auditory impairment in children with autism: they can perceive but do not attend. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 100(9), 5567-72. (sensory sound processing, including pitch discrimination, was largely intact in high-functioning children with autism, regardless of the acoustic sound complexity)
Edgerton, C.L. (1994). The effect of improvisational music therapy on the communicative behaviors of autistic children. Journal of Music Therapy, 31(1), 31-62.(reversal design study assessing communicative behaviors of 11 autistic children participating in improvisational music therapy found significant improvement between first and last session scores)
Heaton, P., Hermelin, B., & Pring, L. (1998). Autism and pitch processing: a precursor for savant musical ability? Music Perception, 15(3), 291-305. (10 autistic children showed superior ability to identify and remember single notes when compared to control group of non-autistic children)
Heaton, P., Hermelin, B., & Pring, L. (1999). Can children with autistic spectrum disorders perceive affect in music? An experimental investigation. Psychological Medicine, 29(6), 1405-10. (in contrast to social and interpersonal domains, 14 children with autism showed no deficits in processing affect in musical stimuli)
Heaton, P., Pring, L., & Hermelin, B. (2001). Musical processing in high functioning children with autism. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 930, 443-444. (children with autism display strengths in processing music)
Heaton, P. (2003). Pitch memory, labeling and disembedding in autism. Journal of Child Psychiatry and Psychology, 44(4), 543-51. (pitch memory and labeling is superior in autism and can facilitate performance on musical disembedding tasks)
Kaplan, R.S., & Steele, A.L. (2005). An analysis of music therapy program goals and outcomes for clients with diagnoses on the autism spectrum. Journal of Music Therapy, 42(1), 2-19. (researchers analyzed data related to goals and outcomes over 2 program years for 40 clients with ASD. Results indicate positive findings in level of progress over time and generalization as reported via survey by parents and caregivers)
Kern, P., & Aldridge, D. (2006). Using embedded music therapy interventions to support outdoor play of young children with autism in an inclusive community-based child care program. Journal of Music Therapy, 43(4), 270-294. (using a multiple based line design replicated across 4 boys, results indicated that embedded music therapy interventions can improve children’s peer interaction on community-based inclusive playgrounds. Musical adaptations of the playground did not improved social interaction of children, but facilitated their play and involvement with peers. The collaborative consultative approach enabled teacher’s to implement interventions successfully in ongoing playgrounds routines, and peer-mediated strategies increased peer interaction and meaningful play on the playgrounds)
Kern, P., Wakeford, L., & Aldridge, D. (2007). Improving the performance of a young child with autism during self-care tasks using embedded song interventions: A case study. Music Therapy Perspectives, 25(1), 43-51. (songs can be an effective approach to multiple-step tasks for children with autism within inclusive classrooms. Song was more effective than lyric/spoken intervention for hand-washing and cleaning up while lyrics/spoken words worked better for toileting)
Kern, P., Wolery, M., & Aldridge, D. (2007). Use of songs to promote independence in morning greeting routines for young children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(7), 1264-1271. (using a single subject withdrawal design, results indicated songs, with modifications for 1 of the 2 children, assisted them in entering the classroom, greeting the teachers and/or peers and engaging in play)
Ma, Y., Nagler, J., Lee, M., & Cabrera, I. (2001). Impact of music therapy on the communication skills of toddlers with pervasive developmental disorder. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 930, 445-7. (preliminary findings indicate increased communication through therapeutic musical activities with 6 children)
Mottron, L., Peretz, I., & Menard, E. (2000). Local and global processing of music in high-functioning persons with autism: beyond central coherence? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41(8), 1057-1065. (enhanced processing of music in autism)
Thaut, M. (1987). Visual versus auditory (musical) stimulus preferences in autistic children: a pilot study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 17(3), 425-432. (while no significant differences were found in autistic children’s preference for visual versus musical stimuli, significant results were found related to increased amount of time autistic children spent with musical stimuli compared with non-autistic peers)
Thaut, M. (1988). Measuring musical responsiveness in autistic children: a comparative analysis of improvised musical tone sequences of autistic, normal, and mentally retarded individuals. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 18(4), 561-571. (certain areas of musical performance in autistic children were similar to non-autistic children and significantly enhanced compared with scores of children with mental retardation)
Walworth, D. D. (2007). The use of music therapy within the SCERTS model for children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Music Therapy, 44(1), 2-22. (this paper identifies how music therapists are currently providing clinical services incorporated in the SCERTS model and offers an alignment of music therapy strategies with SCERTS goals and objectives)
Whipple, J. (2004). Music in intervention for children and adolescents with autism: Meta-analysis. Journal of Music Therapy, 41(2), 90-106. (effects of 9 quantitative studies were in a positive direction, indicating benefits of the use of music in intervention.)
Wigram, T., & Gold, C. (2006). Music therapy in the assessment and treatment of autistic spectrum disorder: Clinical application and research evidence. Child: Care, Health and Development, 32(5), 535-542. (includes review of two randomized controlled trials which found significant effects from structured music therapy intervention)
For information about music therapy nation-wide, visit the American Music Therapy Association at http://www.musictherapy.org