Music therapy can have a particularly positive effect on children with autism spectrum disorder, providing a structured and creative setting for expression, interaction and development.
Music therapy interventions
Sessions can include rhythmic activities, structured interactive work, improvisation, musical performance and songwriting.
A music therapist uses core elements of music, including rhythm, melody, harmony, dynamics and tone colour, to address each child's individual therapeutic needs.
Different approaches
Music therapy includes a variety of approaches informed by psychology, psychotherapy and neuroscience. These include Neurologic Music Therapy, Nordoff-Robbins, cognitive behavioural music therapy and the Orff approach.
Potential benefits
Music therapy can support verbal and non-verbal communication, social skills, cognitive functions such as attention, memory and executive function, sensory processing, movement, emotional expression and self-regulation.
By activating several areas of the brain, music therapy interventions can make a meaningful improvement to the quality of life of autistic children and support their wider development and social inclusion.
The article was written by Katerina Mavroudi, music educator and Neurologic Music Therapy practitioner with a master's degree in music therapy.
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