Music Activities as Therapy for Children with Autism and Other Pervasive Developmental Disorders

Abstract

Music stimuli have often bean used as therapeutic media in treating children with autism and other pervasive developmental disorders. This paper discusses ways to synthesize music activities in accordance with these children's neuropsychological characteristics as described in the research and clinical literature. Functional areas described are: learning history and responsiveness to therapy; responsivity to sensory stimuli; attentional processes; transfer of learning and coping with change; temporal perception; rhythmic movement and praxia; representation, symbolic functions, and language; communication and socialization; and meaning, affect, and activity repertoire. Based on a review of the neuropsychological characteristics typically seen in children with pervasive developmental disorders, specific suggestions and cautions concerning various types of music stimuli are proposed. Though individual differences among these children are great, music therapists might consider these suggestions when synthesizing therapeutic activities designed to meet the unique needs of the individual client.