The use of a developmental music therapy assessment with atypical and autistic children

Abstract: Fourteen children, ranging from 9 to 13 years of age, from a development center for autistic children, were tested using the developmental music therapy assessment. The five tasks included rhythmic reproduction, singing, pitch, tempo and organization. All tasks were scorable, with the exception of organization which was descriptive. Each child participated in individual music therapy assessments. Results indicated a higher inter-rater reliability in the four scorable tasks and the total score. The significant correlation coefficient range was from .668 to .988. In comparing the control group tested by Firey (1984) and Falk (1984) and the present study's clinical group, the control group obtained significantly higher scores in all four scorable tasks, as well as the total scores. Results of the clinical groups previously tested by Firey (1984) and Falk (1984) were compared with each other as well as with the present study's clinical group. The researcher concluded that the developmental music therapy assessment can be standardized if this instrument continues to be fields tested with a larger number of subjects.

Keyword(s): assessment, developmental, music-therapy, autism, children.

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