Integrating Music in Settings with Children with Autism

Music is considered by many to be an international language that travels beyond traditional boundaries. Along with countries and cultures, music also transcends the boundary of health. Studies show that playing familiar music has been shown to improve cases of depression, anxiety, pre-operative stress and other high stress situations like dialysis and cancer treatments. Often these studies do not state whether the people included are neurotypical or neurodiverse, however more studies are looking at neurodiversity as we understand it better.

Neurodiversity covers many differences, one of which includes the autistic spectrum. Autism is typically difficult to diagnose and also covers a wide range of behaviours. One of the difficulties of diagnosis is that no two people with autism are alike because all have different combinations of behaviours. However, two aspects that people with autism share is that they are separated from their peers, and they are treated differently. Not only is this practice exclusionary, in a preschool or nursery setting, this can be difficult for many reasons: available space; available time; available toys/materials; available staff. A study from Kosovo has explored the use of music as a way to integrate children in nursery or preschool, regardless of condition.

The 2021 study (Avdiu-Kryeziu & Avdiu, 2021) found a number of benefits of using music therapy with children with special needs. When delivered by a qualified therapist, children were found to use music to neutralise negative feelings, increase their tolerance of new situations, and create inner peace. Literature shows that 50% of children with autism cannot develop spoken language, have difficulties in social-emotional interaction, and contrary to Hollywood films and widely held beliefs, only 2% have exceptional talent in maths, music and art.

Often children with autism experience difficulties in:

• Understanding spoken language
• Expressing themselves
• Pronunciation
• Control of voice
• Understanding social interactions
• Restraint in touching, smelling, sounds, dancing with music

This study investigated the use of music in a real-world context with childcare specialists that were not musically trained. Interviewing four qualified teachers, they found that just by integrating music in daily activities, all children were able to combat stress. Singing allowed children to explore words, recognise important events, make friends, and connect with family members. This is because “integrated music tackles communication, socialisation and behaviour” Wiseman (2015).

Integrating music in a mixed environment resulted in improved:

• Emotional engagement
• Social interactions
• Communication
• Child-parent relationships
• Peer relationships
• Extended musical abilities
• Memory
• Socialisation
• Responses
• Imagination

This study shows that by using music in preschool or nursery everyday activities, it helps to “level the playing field” between neurotypical and neurodiverse children. When integrated music is used to manage otherwise stressful situations, children with additional needs play together with neurotypical children, bringing richness and value to the setting by giving neurotypical children the experience of playing with and befriending children they would not normally encounter. Neurodiverse children are given the opportunity to be in a non-threatening situation where they can observe and learn to respond appropriately and communicate effectively. This ends up being not only a nursery win, but a society win.