An Intervention Research On Using Music Therapy To Spontaneous Communication Behavior For Children With Autism

Children are in social interaction with people from birth and their physical and mental development is heavily reliant on communication with others.Effective communication enhances quality of life,enabling them to express their needs and emotions more efficiently and avoiding negative feelings resulting from an inability to communicate.However,children with autism often face communication difficulties that hinder their learning,social participation,and overall well-being.As such,it is crucial to prioritize the development of communication behavior as a means of improving overall communication effectiveness.Music therapy is an evidence-based intervention method that utilizes unique rhythms and melodies to promote positive behavioral changes and psychological development in children with autism.Rather than focusing on enhancing their musical abilities,it aims to improves their overall well-being.However,research on music therapy interventions for language development in children with autism is limited in China,with a lack of teaching programs available.Therefore,we believe that exploring the instructional design perspective to apply music therapy and enhance the spontaneous communication behavior of children with autism is a worthwhile pursuit.The study was conducted in two parts.Study 1 involved designing a music therapy teaching program to intervene in the spontaneous communication behavior of children with autism.The purpose of this was twofold: to enrich relevant empirical research and to provide a specific operational procedure for Study 2 to intervene in the spontaneous communication behavior of children with autism.Study 2 used an alternating treatment experimental design in a single-subject research design to examine the effectiveness of two music therapy methods(Orff music therapy and improvised music therapy)as independent variables on the spontaneous communication behavior of three children with autism as dependent variables.The aim of the study was to design a teaching program for spontaneous communication behavior in children with autism,and then to verify its efficacy in immediate,maintenance,and generalization of spontaneous communication behavior,and to compare the effects of the two music therapy approaches.The results of the study were as follows:(1)The music therapy program increased the number of spontaneous communication behaviors in children with autism,and the music therapy method had immediate,maintenance and generalization effects on them,while also improving their social communication skills;(2)The three subjects showed preferences in their choice of music therapy.Both improvised music therapy and Orff music therapy methods had good social validity,but the choice of music therapy method should be based on the unique characteristics and needs of each child with autism to achieve the best intervention effect.The study makes the following recommendations:(1)teaching programs should be developed based on the specific needs of children with autism;(2)music therapy techniques should be chosen according to the characteristics and needs of each child;(3)teaching should shift from individual to group therapy;and(4)parental involvement should be emphasized.