Music aids language-learning in autistic children
Research shows that autistic individuals are more likely to have perfect pitch and prefer music to language, while language delay in autism tends to co-occur with better musical skills. Moreover, neuroimaging studies suggest that music alongside words increases the attention autistic individuals pay to spoken words. The EU-funded MAP project aimed to devise an effective music-assisted intervention programme for use in a realistic environment to elicit meaningful speech in autistic children with no or few words. “MAP’s results not only address the autistic community and the immediate and the wider clinical and research field, but also the general public – anyone interested in the intricate link between music, language and the brain,” notes Fang Liu, the project’s principal investigator.
Music-assisted versus traditional treatment results
In the MAP trial, researchers developed a structured training method – music-assisted programmes (MAP) delivered through naturalistic, interactive activities using songs – to teach 36 target words (e.g. ‘yes’, ‘mummy’ and ‘please’) to 13 randomly selected autistic children. A treatment-as-usual (TAU) group with 14 autistic children received speech and language therapy sessions focused on social communication strategies with focused stimulation of these target words. Both groups undertook 36 training sessions incorporating either TAU or MAP: each lasted 45 minutes twice a week over 18 weeks. Both interventions were mediated by parents/carers at home while being coached by a research speech and language therapist online via video conferencing. Both groups practiced the learning strategies in a 10-minute homework session five times a week. The MAP group was provided with an app featuring 11 songs to facilitate learning of the target words.
Conspicuous improvement of language and behaviour skills
The researchers collected a range of outcome measures at four timepoints: pre-, mid- and post-intervention; and a three-month follow-up. This covered production and understanding of the target words, expressive and receptive vocabulary, adaptive behaviour, social responsiveness, language, social communication and number of participants retained at each timepoint. Parental reports suggested positive impacts of both interventions on the number of words/phrases understood and the number of words produced by these children. Increased social responsiveness was observed only in children from the MAP group. Across both groups, adaptive behaviour remained unchanged across the timepoints. The rest of the data are being processed and analysed; the results will be submitted for journal publication later in 2022. “In summary, our preliminary results suggest that MAP has the potential to increase the language and social skills of 2-to-5-year-old autistic children with no/few words,” explains Liu. “Through this project, we have made a positive and meaningful impact on these children’s and their families’ lives.” MAP also aimed to optimise its design through a post-intervention interview study with parents, as well as pilot an app to support and record homework sessions alongside the programme. The team looks forward to a fuller trial with a larger sample of participants to establish the efficacy of the MAP intervention and to fulfil the individual needs of autistic children.
Keywords
MAP, autistic children, autism, music, speech, language, intervention programme, skills, social skills, words, songs
