Music Therapy and Autism

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Music Therapy and Autism

There is a major link among music therapy and autism. You can find them by reading the following.

Effects of Music Therapy on Autism

Autism music therapy is under study from various angles.

Music therapy and autism have been, both, studied at various levels to establish the relation and effects of music therapy on autism. So far, improvements in symptomatic manifestations in cognitive, psychiatric and motor symptoms of patients are observed. The feasibility and tolerability of a treatment program under music therapy autism remains to be established yet. Efforts are also on in connections with blood pressure, respiratory rates, and pulse as a response to stimuli from music.

Side Effects of Music Therapy on Autistic People

Music therapy needs customization depending on the individual undergoing it, as there is no universality of rules. Uncontrolled and unstructured usage of musical stimuli could create sensory overload and motility rituals in some of them,

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if not all. Several contraindications due to obsession of music can reflect as side effects like withdrawal and self isolation.

In fact, Alvin (1975) cited many side effects while working with autistic people that music can sometimes hypnotize persons with autism into lethargy making them oblivious of the environment they are in as a result of their inward turning in. What worked for one individual need not produce the same effect for others. The valuable music therapy provides an adjunct to available treatments.

Autism Children Music Therapy

Autism children music therapy is partly effective owing to its non-threatening and non verbal methodology. Therapist needs to observe that children want to interact socially thus devising therapeutic methodology using musical games like passing the ball back or musical chairs helps foster interaction with other participants. Autism children music therapy works on speech remediation with children responding in different degrees like echolalia, phrases and sentences.

Music and Autism

There have been a number of researches on music relaxation autism, effect of musical therapy on children with autistic character etc.

One research conducted by Nelson, D., Anderson, V., & Gonzales, A. (1984), and published under the title Music activities as therapy for children with autism and other pervasive developmental disorders in the Journal of Music Therapy, 21.(3),100-116, opines as examining and synthesizing the music in order that these persons' neuropsychological characters are completely taken into consideration. Therapeutically inappropriate usage of music and improper application can be harmful.

Another research on autism music therapy by Reid, D.H., Hill, B.K., Rawers, R.J. & Montegar, C.A. (1975) under title "The use of contingent music in teaching social skills to a nonverbal hyperactive boy" in Journal of Music Therapy, 12(l), 2-18, demonstrate the effectiveness of music therapy in enhancing social skills in three separate experiments.

A study on "Music relaxation autism" was presented at California state science fair in 2004, in which the subjects were played Jazz, Rock and Roll for three days in three sessions of 5 minutes each. The subjects were found at complete ease and relaxed mood.

Ever since the science of autism music therapy came to the fore, a new vista of treatment for music therapy and autism has opened up. Consciousness on the part of therapists is advised during the course of the treatment.