Autism Spectrum Disorders:
Music Therapy Research and Evidence Based Practice Support
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Music therapy is a well-established professional health discipline that uses music as the
therapeutic stimulus to achieve non-musical treatment goals.
Research supports connections between speech and singing, rhythm and motor behavior,
memory for song and memory for academic material, and overall ability of preferred music to
enhance mood, attention, and behavior to optimize the student’s ability to learn and interact.
Therefore, one of the purposes of music therapy for persons with autism is to provide the
individual with an initial assist using melodic and rhythmic strategies, followed by fading of
musical cues to aid in generalization and transfer to other environments.
Recognized as a related service, music therapy serves as an integral component in helping the
child with special needs attain educational goals either through direct or consultant services. The
strength of evidence is growing and music therapy interventions were reviewed for quality of
evidence by the Cochrane Collaborative with favorable results.