Increasing social responsiveness in a child with autism. A comparison of music and non-music interventions

Abstract

This study sought to determine the effects of using music and non-music interventions on the social responsive and avoidant behaviours of a preschool child with autism. A single-subject alternating treatment design was used in which two interventions were presented in a similar fashion except for the addition of music during the music condition. Four phases took place: baseline (Phase A), alternating treatments (Phase B), a second treatment phase (Phase C) using the condition that proved to be more effective in Phase B, and follow-up (Phase D). Data were collected over a total of 12 treatment sessions for various social responsive and avoidant behaviours. Results indicated that the music intervention was more effective than the non-music intervention in increasing all three social responsive behaviours in both Phases B and C. Furthermore, no avoidant behaviours were observed during the music condition. It is suggested that the music condition was more motivating for the participant than the non-music condition, resulting in more social responsive behaviours.