Effects Of Music On Autism

Good Therapy

Music has a strong effect on the behavior of children with autism. Through music therapy, children with autism show enrichments in communication, social behavior, and overall health. Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder that has effect on one in sixty-eight individuals in the United States. Autism creates, “deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, and the disorder creates repetitive patterns of behaviors, interests, and activities” (“American Music Therapy”). The effect of having Autism Spectrum Disorder for an individual results in, “often experiencing problems in school, social and work situations. This leads to the lack of confidence and low self-esteem. For many

Being bullied and taken advantage of by so-called “friends” is not unusual” (“Effects of Autism on the Individual and Their Family”). Because autism is not a visible disability, people who are not aware of the disability often judge their behaviors as “odd”. In certain situations in can be assumed that, “a child with ASD is just being naughty, or the parents are not in control of their child” (“Effects of Autism on the Individual and Their Family”). Resulting in, many parents avoiding taking their children with autism in public, rather than facing the difficulties, and getting judgment from the public when their child becomes anxious or shows symptoms of ASD. Within Autism Spectrum Disorder there are five different subtypes: “Asperger’s, classic autism, PDD-NOS, Rett’s syndrome, and childhood disintegrative disorder” (“Facts About ASD”). For all the subtypes, with different levels of functioning, there are several different types of treatments for autism. With an unclear cause and having no cure, treatments like music therapy are important for persons with autism, in order to increase their potential and live satisfying lives. Music therapy helps minimize the “odd behaviors”, and helps find ways to deal with certain behaviors that come

From teaching an adaptive dance class, and working as a personal care assistant, I have seen these positive effects. While teaching an adaptive dance class to girls ranging from thirteen to twenty years old, having several different disabilities, it is apparent what music can do for a person. Music gives these girls an outlet where they could finally be on even grounds with their peers. At the particular dance studio I taught at it was their mission, which they accomplished, “to take a world of dance that can be competitive and inaccessible to persons who may be challenged in physical or developmental domains and turn it into something for everyone” (River Valley Dance Academy). These girls are paired with dancers from the studio, who help them with a range of things, to help in any way necessary, whether it is to push them in a wheel chair, move their arms along with the dance, or simply to dance next to them for moral support and encouragement. By providing a class like this, you see girls connect with one another, all through music. While dancing with a girl who is non-verbal, and constricted to a wheel chair, I could see it in her face that dancing a long to music brings her great joy. Music and dance brought a sense of importance, as well, as each girl was needed to make the dance complete. Dancing as a group gave these girls a new way to experience social