ABSTRACT

Introduction

Previous evidence suggests that improvisational music therapy (IMT) can be effective at improving social skills of children on the autism spectrum (CoS). To date, no published research exists regarding the effectiveness of specific IMT techniques. Given the improvised nature of IMT such research is important to understand the effective ingredients of the method. The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of three IMT techniques with minimally verbal CoS: (1) exact imitation, (2) imitation with elaboration, and (3) contingent response.

Method

Seven children aged 40 to 56 months (M = 50.1) participated in the study.Inclusion criteria included minimally verbal children (producing fewer than 10 spontaneous words or phrases) between three and five years of age diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Each child participated in nine 30-minute sessions designed toinclude one of the three treatment techniques. Hence, three therapy sessions targeted each therapy technique. Sessions were video-recorded, analyzed and coded for treatment fidelity and child engagement.

Results

Analysis revealed that there was a significant overall effect of therapist technique on engagement state of a child, Hotelling’s Trace = 4.061, F(10, 14) = 2.843, p = 0.037. The overall pattern suggests that exact imitation and imitation with elaboration may result in better overall engagement than contingent response.

Discussion

Results suggest that using IMT imitation techniques may improve engagement. Since engagement is often a clinical goal, and is important in the process of social learning, music therapists are encouraged to consider employing imitation techniques during IMT sessions with CoS.

中文翻译：

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即兴音乐治疗期间模仿对自闭症最小语言儿童参与的影响

摘要

介绍

先前的证据表明，即兴音乐疗法（IMT）可以有效地提高自闭症谱系（CoS）儿童的社交技能。迄今为止，没有关于特定 IMT 技术有效性的已发表研究。鉴于 IMT 的即兴性质，此类研究对于了解该方法的有效成分非常重要。本研究的目的是检验三种 IMT 技术与最小语言 CoS 的有效性：(1) 精确模仿，(2) 精心模仿，以及 (3) 应急响应。

方法

7 名 40 至 56 个月（M = 50.1）的儿童参与了这项研究。纳入标准包括被诊断患有自闭症谱系障碍的 3 至 5 岁的最低限度语言儿童（产生少于 10 个自发单词或短语）。每个孩子参加了九个 30 分钟的课程，旨在包括三种治疗技术中的一种。因此，针对每种治疗技术进行了三个治疗疗程。针对治疗保真度和儿童参与度对会议进行视频记录、分析和编码。

结果

分析显示，治疗师技术对儿童的参与状态有显着的总体影响，Hotelling 的轨迹 = 4.061，F(10, 14) = 2.843，p = 0.037。整体模式表明，精确模仿和精心模仿可能会比应急响应带来更好的整体参与度。

讨论

结果表明，使用 IMT 模仿技术可以提高参与度。由于参与通常是临床目标，并且在社会学习过程中很重要，因此鼓励音乐治疗师在与 CoS 的 IMT 会议期间考虑采用模仿技术。