Effects of Music Therapy on Joint Behaviors in Autistic Children
Topic: This research studied the effect of improvisational music and play sessions on joint behaviors in autistic children. It is known that music is a gateway to expression and there have been previous research findings that show how music therapy helps autistic children in the development of emotional communication and social interaction. The results for this research may show a correlation between improvisational music and positive joint attention behavior do to the fact that music has a positive association with the autistic disorder.
Rationale: This study was conducted on joint attention behaviors in autistic children because it would help predict the language and social …show more content…
The study used a randomization method were two groups of equal size, consisted of five children, the first group had music therapy sessions first and play sessions after, as for the second group they had play sessions first then music therapy. The research team conducting the study consisted of a group of 3 music therapy graduates, 2 music therapist and only one play therapist, they believed that if there were different people it would prevent familiarity influencing the results. They also developed a structured schedule per say that would ensure consistency between both variables. The participants or test subjects were ultimately 10 boys; at the beginning of the trial there were 15 participants 2 of which were girls but had two drop out along with 3 other boys. The children were within 3 to 5 years old and were all diagnosed with autism, they were also new to the exposure of both music and play therapy. Each child was exposed to the variables of music and play sessions, each child had 12 weekly 30 minute sessions of improvisational music which were then compared to a controlled condition of 12 weekly 30 minute play sessions with toys. In the first half of the session (15 minutes) the child had the control or lead while the therapist followed along and in the second half (15 minutes) the therapist gradually influenced turn taking activities. The measures collected were frequency and duration of both eye …show more content…
Then I began to wonder if the researchers would get accurate readings because of the age difference, being that the children are 51.20 months. There was a limitation on the PDDBI method because the parents were involved and the results could have been tainted because of observer bias, I agree with what the author of the article Jinah Kim says, that the results of this case specifically the mothers finding or results were an interpretation of their expectations. Also, the fact that the study consisted of such a small group, made it difficult for a general conclusion to be drawn out. Many of the participants dropped out for either health reasons or one of the more major causes was traveling distance thus, I would suggest researchers either conduct a study with local autistic children or facilitate the means of transportation for the families. I believe there was an error and that there should have been at least another play therapist because; they were trying to prevent familiarity influencing the results. However, there was only one play therapist, in comparison to the 2 music therapist and 3 music therapy graduates. I’m not completely sure if the music therapy graduates and music therapists helped in the play sessions but if not that means the children grew familiar to
Topic: This research studied the effect of improvisational music and play sessions on joint behaviors in autistic children. It is known that music is a gateway to expression and there have been previous research findings that show how music therapy helps autistic children in the development of emotional communication and social interaction. The results for this research may show a correlation between improvisational music and positive joint attention behavior do to the fact that music has a positive association with the autistic disorder.
Rationale: This study was conducted on joint attention behaviors in autistic children because it would help predict the language and social …show more content…
The study used a randomization method were two groups of equal size, consisted of five children, the first group had music therapy sessions first and play sessions after, as for the second group they had play sessions first then music therapy. The research team conducting the study consisted of a group of 3 music therapy graduates, 2 music therapist and only one play therapist, they believed that if there were different people it would prevent familiarity influencing the results. They also developed a structured schedule per say that would ensure consistency between both variables. The participants or test subjects were ultimately 10 boys; at the beginning of the trial there were 15 participants 2 of which were girls but had two drop out along with 3 other boys. The children were within 3 to 5 years old and were all diagnosed with autism, they were also new to the exposure of both music and play therapy. Each child was exposed to the variables of music and play sessions, each child had 12 weekly 30 minute sessions of improvisational music which were then compared to a controlled condition of 12 weekly 30 minute play sessions with toys. In the first half of the session (15 minutes) the child had the control or lead while the therapist followed along and in the second half (15 minutes) the therapist gradually influenced turn taking activities. The measures collected were frequency and duration of both eye …show more content…
Then I began to wonder if the researchers would get accurate readings because of the age difference, being that the children are 51.20 months. There was a limitation on the PDDBI method because the parents were involved and the results could have been tainted because of observer bias, I agree with what the author of the article Jinah Kim says, that the results of this case specifically the mothers finding or results were an interpretation of their expectations. Also, the fact that the study consisted of such a small group, made it difficult for a general conclusion to be drawn out. Many of the participants dropped out for either health reasons or one of the more major causes was traveling distance thus, I would suggest researchers either conduct a study with local autistic children or facilitate the means of transportation for the families. I believe there was an error and that there should have been at least another play therapist because; they were trying to prevent familiarity influencing the results. However, there was only one play therapist, in comparison to the 2 music therapist and 3 music therapy graduates. I’m not completely sure if the music therapy graduates and music therapists helped in the play sessions but if not that means the children grew familiar to