| General Definition |
History of Music Therapy |
Treatment for the Autism Spectrum |
| Recent Journal Abstracts and Articles on Children and Music Therapy |
“Almost all children respond to music. Music is an open-sesame, and if you can use it carefully and appropriately, you can reach into that child’s potential for development.” |
| — Dr. Clive Robbins, Founder/Director |
| Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Clinic |
| New York University |
Music Therapy Services
Little Steps Music, LLC, provides music therapy services for developmentally delayed children. For each child, a music therapy treatment plan is created with input from parents, teachers, and other therapists.
Developmental goals – such as enhanced speech and language, motor skills, and appropriate social-emotional responses – are identified and pursued through musical activities.
A therapy session may include songs about puppets and toys, presentation of musical storybooks, musical improvisation, and instrument play. For more highly functioning children, sessions may also include a brief, informal guitar or piano lesson to strengthen attention, memory skills, and fine motor coordination.
Music Therapy – A General Definition
Music therapy is a well-established, allied health profession similar to occupational and physical therapy. It consists of using music therapeutically to address behavioral, social, psychological, communicative, physical, sensory-motor, and cognitive functioning. Music therapy also encompasses adaptive music instruction including the use of behavioral, biomedical, developmental, educational, and humanistic techniques and as well as other models.
Music therapy enhances one’s quality of life, involving relationships between a trained music therapist and an individual, between one individual and another, between an individual and his or her family, and between the music and the participants. These relationships are structured and adapted through the elements of music to create a positive environment and set the occasion for successful growth.
History of Music Therapy
The idea of music as a healing influence that can affect health and behavior is as least as old as the writings of Aristotle and Plato. But the discipline began in earnest after the two World Wars when community musicians of all types, both amateur and professional, visited hospitals around the United States to play for the thousands of veterans suffering both physical and emotional trauma. The patients’ notable physical and emotional responses to music led doctors and nurses to request the hiring of musicians by the hospitals.
It was soon evident that the hospital musicians needed prior training before conducting therapy in a medical facility and so the demand grew for a college curriculum. The first music therapy degree program in the world, founded at Michigan State University, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1994.
In 1998, the American Music Therapy Association was founded as a union of the National Association for Music Therapy and the American Association for Music Therapy.
Music Therapy and Individuals with Diagnoses on the Autism Spectrum
Because music therapy is a powerful and non-threatening medium, unique outcomes are possible. For individuals with diagnoses on the autism spectrum, music therapy provides a unique variety of music experiences in an intentional and developmentally appropriate manner to effect changes in behavior and facilitate the development of skills.
For detailed information, review the Autism Fact Sheet provided by the American Music Therapy Association.
Recent Journal Abstracts
On Children and Music Therapy
Bronwell, Mike, “Musically Adapted Social Stories to Modify Behaviors in Students with Autism: Four Case Studies,” Journal of Music Therapy: Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 117-144.
Colwell, Cynthia, “Music Activities (Singing vs. Chanting) as a Vehicle for Reading Accuracy of Children with Learning Disabilities: A Pilot Study,” Music Therapy Perspectives: Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 13–19.
Ghetti, Claire, “Comparison of the Effectiveness of Three Music Therapy Conditions to Modulate Behavior States in Students with Profound Disabilities: A Pilot Study,” Music Therapy Perspectives: Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 20–30.
Jackson, Nancy, “A Survey of Music Therapy Methods and Their Role in the Treatment of Early Elementary School Children with ADHD,” Journal of Music Therapy: Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 302–323.
Mei Chase, Kristen, Music Therapy Assessment for Children with Developmental Disabilities: A Survey Study,” Journal of Music Therapy: Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 28–54.
Register, Dena, “The Effects of an Early Intervention Music Curriculum on Prereading/Writing,” Journal of Music Therapy: Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 239-248.
Register, Dena, “The Effects of Live Music Groups Versus an Educational Children's Television Program on the Emergent Literacy of Young Children” Journal of Music Therapy: Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 2?27.
McGuire, Kenneth, “The Use of Music on Barney and Friends: Implications for Music Therapy Practice and Research,” Journal of Music Therapy: Vol. 38, No. 2, pp. 114-148.
Wigram, Tony, “A Method of Music Therapy Assessment for the Diagnosis of Autism and Communication Disorders in Children,” Music Therapy Perspectives: Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 13?22.
Recent Journal Articles
On Children and Music
Abramson, Keren, “The Role of Music in Developing Communication Skills in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder,” The Canadian Hyperlexia Association.