Music and Social Skills for Young Children with Autism: A Survey of Early Childhood Educators

Year 2020, Volume: 5 Issue: 3, 190 - 207, 01.07.2020

Anna Archontopoulou Potheini Vaıoulı

https://doi.org/10.24331/ijere.730328

Cited By: 5

Abstract

Children with autism may have difficulties in communicating with others, developing social
relationships and maintaining emotional reciprocity. Children’s active involvement with musical
activities may create the conditions for enhanced moments of learning and communication and it
may promote children’s sensory-motor abilities and their cognitive and emotional skills. The aim of
this study was to investigate the views of early childhood educators on the use of music as a tool for
enhancing students’ with autism social skills. Participants were 94 early childhood educators,
working at Greek public schools. The results were positive regarding the participants’ views on the
use of music as an important, instructional tool in the classroom that holds the potential to promote
social and emotional growth of young children with autism. Implication of the study pinpoint to
additional research on the topic and to professional development of early childhood educators on
the use of music.

Keywords

Autism, Music, Social Relationships

References

• Allgood, N. (2005). Parent’s perception of family-based group music therapy for children with autism spectrum disorders. Music Therapy Perspectives, 23(2), 92-99. American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing. Anvari, S. H., Trainor, L. J., Woodside, J., & Levy, B. A. (2002). Relations among musical skills, phonological processing, and early reading ability in preschool children. Journal of experimental child psychology, 83(2), 111-130. Baron-Cohen, S. (2008). Theories of the autistic mind. The Psychologist, 21(2), 112-116. Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (1999). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Campbell, P. S. (2010). Songs in their heads: music and its meaning in children's lives. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. Chrysostomou, S., Papapanagiotou, X. & Dogani, K. (2007). Future and current educators: preparation, attitudes and needs for teaching music. In P.Simeonides (Ed.), Music education in search of its cultural identity, Electronic Proceedings of the 5th Conference of Greece Society for Music Education GSME, 29 June–1 July 2007, Thessaloniki. Duffy, B., & Fuller, R. (2000). Role of music therapy in social skills development in children with moderate intellectual disability. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 13(2), 77-89. Economidou - Stavrou, A. (2013). Fostering musical creativity in pre-service teacher education: Challenges and possibilities. International Journal of Music Education, 31(1), 35-52. Economidou-Stavrou, A., & Telemachou, N. (2006). Preparing future generalist teachers to teach music in primary school: Feedback from practicing teachers in Cyprus. Proceedings of the 27th World Conference of the International Society for Music Education, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Finnigan, E., & Starr, E. (2010). Increasing social responsiveness in a child with autism: A comparison of music and non-music interventions. Autism, 14(4), 321-348. Fyssa, A. & Vlachou, A. (2015). Assessment of quality for inclusive programs in Greek preschool classrooms. Journal of Early Intervention, 37 (3), 190-207. Geretsegger, M., Elefant, C., Mössler, K. A., & Gold, C. (2014). Music therapy for people with autism spectrum disorder. The Cochrane Library. Gold, C., Wigram, T., & Elefant, C. (2006). Music therapy for autistic spectrum disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 2. Horn, E., & Banerjee, R. (2009). Understanding curriculum modifications and embedded learning opportunities in the context of supporting all children’s success. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 40(4), 406-415. Hudson, P., & Hudson, S. (2007). Examining preservice teachers’ preparedness for teaching art. International Journal of Education and the Arts, 8(5). Johnson, S. C. (2000). The recognition of mentalistic agents in infancy. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4(1), 22-28. Kagan, J., Herschkowitz, N., & Herschkowitz, E. C. (2005). Young mind in a growing brain. Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc Inc. Kaplan, R. S., & Steele, A. L. (2005). An analysis of music therapy program goals and outcomes for clients with diagnoses on the autism spectrum. Journal of music therapy, 42(1), 2-19. Kern, P., & Aldridge, D. (2006). Using embedded music therapy interventions to support outdoor play of young children with autism in an inclusive community-based child care program. Journal of Music Therapy, 43, 270–294. Kim, J., Wigram, T. & Gold, C. (2008). The effects of improvisational music therapy on joint attention behaviors in autistic children: A randomized controlled study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 1758–1766. Koutsoupidou, T. (2010). Initial music training of generalist kindergarten teachers in Greece: What do they ask for and what do they receive? Arts education policy review, 111(2), 63-70. Latane, B. & Nowak, A., (1994). Attitudes as catastrophes: from dimensions to categories with increasing involvement. In Vallacher, R. R., & Nowak, A. Dynamical systems in social psychology. San Diego, CA, US: Academic Press Lim, H. A. (2010). Effect of “developmental speech and language training through music” on speech production in children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of music therapy, 47(1), 2-26. McDowell, C. (2010). An adaption tool kit for teaching music. Teaching Exceptional Children Plus, 6 (3), 1-18. McLaren, S. (2005). Noise and at risk children in early childhood education centres. Early Childhood Folio, 9, 39-43. McWilliam, R. A., & Casey, A. M. (2008). Engagement of every child in the preschool classroom. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company. Missall, K., & Hojnoski, R. (2008). The critical nature of young children’s emerging peer-related social competence for transition to school. Social competence of young children: Risk, disability, and intervention, 117-137. Mundy, P., & Neal, R. (2001). Neural plasticity, joint attention and autistic developmental pathology. International review of research in mental retardation, 23, 139-168. Ockelford, A. (2011a). Songs without words: Exploring how music can serve as a proxy language in social interaction with autistic children who have limited speech, and the potential impact on their wellbeing. In R. MacDonald, G. Kreutz, & L. Mitchell (eds.), Music, health and wellbeing. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ockelford, A. (2012). Commentary: Special abilities, special needs. In McPherson, G. & Welch, G. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Music Education. Vol2. (pp.7-10). New York, Oxford University Press. Ockelford, A., & Matawa, C. (2010). Focus on music 2: Exploring the musical interests and abilities of blind and partially-sighted children with retinopathy of prematurity. London: Institute of Education. Odom, S. L., McConnell, S. R., & Brown, W. H. (2008). Social competence of young children: Conceptualization, assessment, and influences. In W. Brown, S.L. Odom & S.R. McConnell (Eds.), Social competence of young children: Risk, disability and intervention (pp. 3-29). Baltimore: Bookes. Ozonoff, S., Rogers, S. J., & Hendren, R. L. (2003). Autism spectrum disorders: A research review for practitioners. Washington, D.C: American Psychiatric Pub. Plomin, R., Owen, M. J., & McGuffin, P. (1994). The genetic basis of complex human behaviors. Science, 264(5166), 1733-1739. Powell, D. R., Burchinal, M. R., File, N., & Kontos, S. (2008). An eco-behavioral analysis of children's engagement in urban public school preschool classrooms. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 23(1), 108-123. Ridley, S. M., McWilliam, R. A., & Oates, C. S. (2000). Observing children at play: Using engagement to evaluate activities and the classroom environment. Children and Families, 14(3), 36-38. Shonkoff, J. P., & Phillips, D. (2000). From neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development: National Academies Press. Simpson, K. & Keen, D. (2011). Music interventions for children with autism: Narrative review of the literature. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41(11), 1507-1514. Simpson, K., & Keen, D. (2010). Teaching young children with autism graphic symbols embedded within an interactive song. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 20, 165–177. Simpson, K., Keen, D., & Lamb, J. (2013). The use of music to engage children with autism in a receptive labelling task. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 7(12), 1489-1496. Stephens, C. E. (2008). Spontaneous imitation by children with autism during a repetitive musical play routine. Autism, 12, 645–671. Stern, D. N. (1985). The Interpersonal world of the infant: a view from psychoanalysis and developmental psychology. London: Karnac Books. Stiegler, L. N., & Davis, R. (2010). Understanding sound sensitivity in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 25(2), 67-75. Tarrant, M., North, A. C., & Hargreaves, D. J. (2000). English and American adolescents' reasons for listening to music. Psychology of Music, 28(2), 166-173. Telemachou, N. (2007). Primary school student teachers’ self efficacy beliefs for teaching music: a dialogic and interactive trajectory. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Exeter, UK. Vaiouli, P., & Friesen, A. (2016). The magic of music: Engaging young children with autism spectrum disorders in early literacy activities with their peers. Childhood Education, 92(2), 126-133. Vaiouli, P., & Ogle, L. (2015). Music strategies to promote engagement and academic growth of young children with ASD in the inclusive classroom. Young Exceptional Children, 18(2), 19-28. Vaiouli, P., Grimmet, K., & Ruich, L. J. (2015). “Bill is now singing”: Joint engagement and the emergence of social communication of three young children with autism. Autism, 19(1), 73-83. Wan, C. Y., Demaine, K., Zipse, L., Norton, A., & Schlaug, G. (2010). From music making to speaking: engaging the mirror neuron system in autism. Brain research bulletin, 82(3), 161-168. Welch, G., & McPherson, G. (2012). Introduction and commentary: Music education and the role of music in people's lives. In McPherson, G. & Welch, G. (Eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Music Education. Vol1. (pp. 5-20). New York, Oxford University Press Whipple, J. (2004). Music in intervention for children and adolescents with autism: A meta-analysis. Journal of music therapy, 41(2), 90-106.