Karen is a 6-year-old girl who exhibits behavior in the autism spectrum through a regular
forward rocking motion, stimming, an aversion to loud sounds, and a negative reaction to others
in close proximity. Michael, a board-certified music therapist with training in Dalcroze
Eurhythmics, designs an interaction intervention to bring Karen into agreement with her
behaviors and with her relation to those around her. Michael begins by softly improvising at the
keyboard, using Karen's rocking motion as the tempo. By altering the tempo either slightly faster
or slower, Michael is able to measure a response to Karen's awareness of the stimulus. When
Karen is able to react to the tempo fluctuations, Michael starts and stops the improvisations,
demonstrating different tempos and dynamics. When Michael stops playing, Karen stops
rocking. In a future interaction, Michael gives Karen one end of an elastic stocking and holds the
other end. A recording of improvised music programmed at Karen's preferred internal tempo is
played to provide a stimulus for rhythmic swaying, dancing, and an interaction between Karen
and Michael. Through additional work in rhythmic movement, Karen begins to allow rhythmic
stimuli other than her own bring her closer to interactions with others.