Introduction
I am an amateur (not at all accomplished) guitarist and very untrained singer. I have no musical training and I have not studied music therapy. Nevertheless, in my psychotherapy and social skill training work with young people on the autism spectrum, I have periodically employed music. This article summarizes some of what I do, in case colleagues working in speech, mental health or education might find something worthwhile to try in their own work.
Reasons I sometimes use music in my work
To practice fundamental words and phrases in social communication
Children with ASD often skip over essential elements of conversation such as greetings, goodbyes and words of validation. I have used two kinds of songs to help with this. The first kind of song is kind of a promotion or “advertisement” for an element of speech such as greetings. Here is one example. Click on the picture to view it on YouTube.
A second kind of song for teaching elements of conversation is one that children sing along with me to facilitate practice and memorization.
I believe that many kids on the autism spectrum are unusually good at learning and recalling the repetitive words and phrases in some of these songs. Maybe this is some functional manifestation of delayed echolalia.
Here below is an example is a song I have often used with younger children to help them get used to greeting / saying goodbye and using the names of other children in a social skills group.
The two songs below are to teach and practice what I call words of validation. These are common words to convey interest and maintain reciprocal flow in conversation, and many young people with autism need help mastering language like this.
To facilitate communication exchange within a group
In the hundreds of social skills groups I have run, my most most important task has been to enable the participants to talk with each other and learn about one another. Here is a call and response song I created to help with this.
To promote and reinforce an important message / lesson in therapy
These are songs that I use to focus on central therapy issues. I sing them to the child, or the child can join in if they like. I have often used variations of “If you’re happy and you know it…” to practice identifying emotions and talking about feelings. For children who have become over-enthralled with pretend and fantasy, I made up a song called, “Don’t Let Pretend Get Too Big.”
Here is a song by Cathy Bollinger about eye contact.
I made up this song about tattling many years ago and I use it occasionally.
To break up the routine of therapy and provide respite and levity
We ask our young clients to do really hard work, week after week, often for years. For many of these kids, a little music now and then helps maintain energy and morale.
To increase focus, comfort and commitment during therapy sessions
Many children with ASD have certain songs or music styles they like to listen to repeatedly. I have occasionally encouraged a child to let me play their favorite music in the background while we work during sessions.
Other ways I have used music in my work
Watching social skills song videos
I don’t do this too much myself, preferring instead to make up my own songs. Some videos out there contain good and useful songs, and others are not so great in my opinion, employing overly complex language and annoying features.
Exploring the child’s musical interests to identify strengths and concerns
I have often explored YouTube with young clients to learn more about children’s interests. I have sometimes discovered that my clients have found music that is helpful and inspiring and which furthers my own therapeutic agenda. Occasionally, I have discovered that a child is into music with negative and harmful messages.
When to not use music
If you are someone like me who enjoys music, you need to be careful that you don’t obligate a kid to participate in some musical activity just because it happens to be part of your therapy routine. I put away the guitar the instant any kid shows disinterest or aversion.
What I have not yet tried with music in therapy activities
As I stated in the Introduction, I am not a music therapist. Music therapists do all kinds of things I can’t do and they have all kinds of cool musical equipment to enable children to participate in a variety of meaningful ways. It would be fun and worthwhile to spend time observing music therapists at work with kids on the spectrum.
Conclusion
Whether you are a musician, or an avid musical dabbler like me, you might consider making music a part of your therapy repertoire when you are working with kids on the autism spectrum. It has often been worthwhile for me.