It may not be surprising that good relationships lead to good outcomes, as meaningful relational experiences are crucial for all of us in our daily lives. However, developing a relationship with a child with autism may be affected due to the level of symptoms that interfere with the typical development of emotional and social skills. Today we present music therapy.

In a new study, researchers from GAMUT, Uni Research Health and the University of Bergen, could show that the quality of the therapeutic relationship predicts widespread changes in social skills in children diagnosed with an autism spectrum condition (ASC).

This prediction study included 48 children ages 4 to 7 years who received improvisational music therapy weekly over a 5-month period. Outcomes related to the child's social skills were measured before and after treatment. Based on the session videos, the researchers evaluated the relationship between the child and the therapist.

The results of this study show a significant reduction in symptoms if a relationship developed in which the therapist became emotionally and musically attuned to the child's expressions. Especially an improvement in communication and language skills was associated with the quality of the therapeutic relationship.

Tuning as a mechanism of change

Interhuman attunement processes are particularly described for early interactions between infants and their caregivers. It has been suggested that the caregiver's ability to attune and synchronize with the infant's movements, rhythms, and affects influences attachment and the development of social understanding. Within these harmonized musical exchanges, childhood experiences are emotionally experienced and understood.

In music therapy with children with autism, therapists attempt to transfer the principles of early interaction processes by making music that specifically adapts to the child's sounds, movements, postures, and affects. This should allow moments of synchronization and tuning, explains Karin Mössler at Uni Research. Mössler is the principal investigator of the study.

Children with childhood autism Focusing on musical and emotional attunement could be especially important for children with low-functioning childhood autism, as it could be especially powerful when working with sensory processing, affect regulation, or deviations related to the child's movements, all of which can be crucially affected in these children. Although the primary results of a related study investigating the effects of music therapy with children with autism do not show that music therapy works better than other therapies, subgroup analysis identified that children with childhood autism or co-occurring intellectual disability improve the most from music therapy than children with another diagnosis of autism. Stereotypical behavior as a resource In this sense, special attention should be paid to intervention strategies that foster the relationship through musical and emotional attunement. These strategies should help therapists but also parents of children with ASD to cope with the child's level of symptoms, for example, using their repetitive or stereotyped movements and affective expressions as a resource and starting point for attunement.

Text translated from: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171106095751.htm