Essay Sample on Essence of Music Therapy on Children With ADHD and ASD

The use of music therapy is gradually becoming prevalent in special education backgrounds in the United States. Music therapy can be defined as the planned, and deliberate application of the properties of music to attain objectives not related to music (Suzuki, Kenmochi, Miyamoto, Hayashi & Matsumoto, 2017). For students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), music therapy focuses on decreasing hyperactivity and increasing the concentration period. Music therapy also impacts positively on people with Autism Spectrum Disorder, through its songs, rhythms, and musical games they can be able to create a functional speech (Suzuki et al., 2017).

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The purpose of my project is to investigate the efficacy of the MT method in enhancing the interaction skills of children with autism. ASD and ADHD are categorized as a cognitive disorder, which is characterized by challenges with social interaction, and character (Ghasemtabar, Hosseini, Fayyaz, Arab, Naghashian & Poudineh, 2015). Children with such neurodevelopmental illnesses often have problems with physical balance, and low self-esteem while interacting with others. My project will be a solution, as it will highlight how the MT method was effective at enhancing self-esteem and social skills for children (Ghasemtabar et al., 2015). According to the study, MT was an efficient method with broad and consistent impacts on augmenting social skills for kids with autism.

Music has contributed a lot in the medical and nonfiction research on ASD with respect to diagnosis, rehabilitation, and behavioral annotations within a population (Janzen & Thaut, 2018). Music as a treatment for ASD had customarily concentrated on social interaction, communication skills, and social-emotional characters (Janzen & Thaut, 2018). Music helps people to properly recognize the positive and adverse valence of expressive incentives. Lack of socialization is one of the main sins of ASDs and the main source of speech difficulty. Social skills are particular behaviors that people use for performing social tasks adeptly (Suzuki et al., 2017). Studies conducted on social skills for kids with autism displayed that these children are less likely to begin conversations when it comes to turn-taking. Lack of social skills and communications in childhood may have many adverse effects, such as decreases in employment, life expectancy, and escalation of mental disorders (Ghasemtabar et al., 2015). MT has been proven as a clinical utilization of music interventions to achieve personal objectives within a clinical association (Ghasemtabar et al., 2015). The method utilizes music as a way of addressing growing, adaptive, and therapeutic goals in the spheres of psychosocial, cerebral and sensory-motor behavior of people with learning disabilities (Ghasemtabar et al., 2015). Children with autism find musical rhymes and instruments to be very appealing, thereby helping in augmenting their attention.

Music psychotherapist is effective at treating autism, and ethically, autistic individuals think it is not good to try. There is an ethical dilemma when explaining the definition of neurodiversity in the perspective of music treatment. For instance, an individual with Autism may be inclined to use the word autistic, rather than the more accepted, person with autism (Olsher, 2015). The American culture is making progress at unravelling the person from the condition, and hitherto individuals who associate themselves as autistic perceive that our benevolent efforts are erroneous (Olsher, 2015). For instance, in the neurodiversity movement, Steve Silberman states that autism is not an illness, its who they are (Olsher, 2015). Rather than concentrating their attention on treating autism, they reserve a notion to cure a society that lacks the knowledge of how to accommodate people with autism (Olsher, 2015). In a nutshell, people with autism face different prejudice due to their cognitive disorder.

Incorporating all children into an art form is a difficult task due to social pressures, prejudices, and changing attitudes and perspectives. Therefore, inclusive techniques for kids with special needs such as learning disabilities in both the areas of music therapy and art should be widely practiced by the teacher in a classroom set up (Loss, 2016). The idea of social inclusion develops self-esteem within an individual, and it could an element to reduce the symptoms of Autism (Loss, 2016). Children who enhance inclusivity and engagement in the classroom promote the aspect of academic excellence among these kids, rather than a situation where children are not taught as an inclusive factor (Loss, 2016). The family should always treat their kids fairly and equally despite their learning disability. They should further encourage them to play and interact with the other kids in the society.

In conclusion, the paper has provided a theoretical application perspective on the essence of music therapy on children with autism. MT technique has been viewed as the best method to help children cope with autism. Children with such cognitive illnesses often have problems with physical balance, and low self-esteem while interacting with others. Therefore, parents and teachers should enhance social inclusion techniques to ensure their children have self-esteem.

References

Ghasemtabar, S. N., Hosseini, M., Fayyaz, I., Arab, S., Naghashian, H., & Poudineh, Z. (2015). Music therapy: An effective approach in improving the social skills of children with autism. Advanced biomedical research, 4. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4550953/

Janzen, T. B., & Thaut, M. H. (2018). Rethinking the role of music in the neurodevelopment of autism spectrum disorder. Music & Science, 1, 2059204318769639. Retrieved from: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/47ce/58137e45d1b4dbbe9346c270a5de66db3374.pdf

Loss, F. (2016). Social inclusion as a therapeutic and educational factor in a music therapy setting. Retrieved from: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/dd48/e7735533a46828e13a8b6136df3ffdf46b38.pdf

Olsher, D. (2015). Music Therapy and Autism: An Ethical Dilemma. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sound-mind/201511/music-therapy-and-autism-ethical-dilemma

Suzuki, N., Kenmochi, H., Miyamoto, K., Hayashi, T., & Matsumoto, S. (2017). Effects of Medical Music-Care Therapy for Children With Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Psychology, 7(10), 541-556. Retrieved from: https://www.davidpublisher.org/Public/uploads/Contribute/5a572f442961c.pdf