Using Music Therapy to Enhance Social, Speech and Language Skills in One Five Year Old Child with Autism: A Case Study

Abstract

This descriptive case study examined the effects of using music therapy to enhance engagement, social, and early literacy skills in one 5-year-old boy diagnosed with autism. Video and audiotapes of music therapy sessions, progress notes and reports, and interviews with the boy's parents, special education teacher, and music therapist were qualitatively analyzed for this study. Instructional implications of this study include the recommendation that music therapy services, when used in conjunction with the educational program of autistic children, can be beneficial in helping to facilitate engagement and early literacy goals and objectives. Recommendations for future research in this area include the study of the benefits of music therapy with autistic children beyond the preschools setting with higher-level educational goals.