How does music benefit autistic individuals?

I attended an excellent and thought provoking Chamberfest West concert. Narrated by CBC’s Tom Allen, “The Music of Talk” explored the connection between music and speech. I was fascinated to hear music’s relationship to speech and language development, and the affect of music on the brain’s amygdala. Music stimulates the amygdala in a similar way to faces, smells and other sounds, most likely because all of these stimuli are perceived as having social significance due to their communicative properties.

Tom Allen stated we probably had music before we had language, and it would have been a primary form of communication. According to National Geographic, a 40,000-year-old vulture-bone flute is the world’s oldest musical instrument. Music has been in the lives of humans for tens of thousands of years!

Since 2006, University of Central Florida’s neuroscientist Kiminobu Sugaya and world-renowned violinist Ayako Yonetani have been teaching a course called Music and the Brain. In their course, they discuss what music can do such as:

• change your ability to perceive time
• reduce fear
• improve communication
• boost your immune system
• assist in repairing brain damage
• increase intelligence
• summon memories

Kiminobu Sugaya has studied songbirds and found that “canaries stop singing every autumn when the brain cells responsible for song generation die.” However, the neurons grow back over the winter months, and the birds learn their songs over again in the spring. He thinks this may be a sign that “music may increase neurogenesis in the brain.”

Music has so many benefits. As I listened to Tom Allen’s concert narration, it got me thinking about how music can benefit and enrich the lives of autistic individuals.

How does music benefit autistic individuals?

According to researchers at Université de Montréal and McGill University, engaging in musical activities such as singing and playing instruments in one-on-one therapy can improve autistic children’s social communication skills, improve their family’s quality of life, as well as increased brain connectivity in key networks.

Data collected from the MRI scans suggest that improved communication skills in children who underwent the music intervention could be a result of increased connectivity between auditory and motor regions of the brain, and decreased connectivity between auditory and visual regions, which are commonly observed to be over-connected in autistic people.

This is the first clinical trial to show that music intervention for autistic school-age children can lead to improvements in both communication and brain connectivity, and provides a possible neuroscientific explanation for improvements in communication.

There are physical benefits to playing an instrument such as improved breathing, and working on fine and gross motor skills. Music can help with self-regulation – slow, gentle music and sounds are calming and can ease anxiety, while loud, up-tempo music is alerting, which can help an under-stimulated nervous system.

We have emotional responses to certain types of music. Using music can help with emotional literacy. It can be a way to express anger, excitement, happiness, joy or sadness.  Music can also support increased interoceptive awareness, which is needed to understand emotions.  Interoception is the eighth sense that shapes well-being.

Music can help improve cognition because of its rhythmic patterns which gives autistic individuals a structured means of understanding auditory messages. Music is multi-sensory – it engages a person’s visual, auditory, and tactile senses which enhances learning and understanding.

How can we use music in daily life?

Prompting – Use certain songs to cue association with tasks. For example, choose a song that you can use for transitioning to another activity. Play it every time you move to something new and an association to that song will happen with that transition. You can pick songs for cleaning up, end of day, lunchtime and the list goes on.

Improving Breath Control – Blowing works the mouth and shoulder stability muscles to help develop breathing control. Being able to control your breathing can help with regulation, staying calm and alleviating anxiety. Blowing a whistle, harmonica, recorder or party blower are fun ways to start developing breath control, and offer excellent cause and effect feedback.

Teaching the Concept of Time – Music can provide an auditory structure around how long it takes to complete a task. For example, there are a number of two minute songs for tooth brushing. Organized Chaos blog has songs for brushing hair, getting dressed and packing a backpack.

Enhancing Activities – Music can add jazz, pizzazz and interest to all kinds of activities such as yoga, stretching, exercise, cooking, cleaning and relaxing.

Encouraging Communication – Leave out certain words to favorite songs and have your child fill in the blank with their voice. Singing Hands UK has a series of YouTube videos using signing and Makaton for singing for young children’s songs.
Music and Movement – Dancing to music can provide body breaks throughout the day. It can also help with gross motor coordination.

Learning New Skills – Pair new skills with their own musical cues. Once children have learned the skills, they no longer need the cues. The cues are gradually phased out until the skills happen by themselves.

Speech and Language Development – Read about how parent Dan Hughes harnessed his autistic son’s love of singing and dancing to learn new words and phrases.

Teaching Social Skills – Music can provide a structure for social language interactions. It’s a powerful way to improve language skills and social-pragmatic skills through conversational lyrics, imitating body movements or language, cooperative play, and group activities/participation. For example, musical activities require body awareness and understanding of nonverbal cues just like conversation does. Cassie Wilhelm, SLP, has some great ideas on how to build social skills using music.

Music provides many possibilities for learning, development, and enjoyment. Both of my autistic children have had the benefit of live music through their father who is a classical pianist. Music calms them throughout the day. My son has developed a keen interest in music and attends concerts, a regular drum circle, and sings and dances every day. My daughter sings karaoke every night for 30 minutes to release the stress of the day.

Music is an important part of a well-rounded education and life experience. Make sure the individual you support is having the opportunity to listen and participate in musical activities. It can enhance a person’s life, provide happiness and contribute to well-being.

References

7 Ways Music Can Support Autistic Children. Gympanzees
Music and Autism Research. Coast Music Therapy
Your Brain on Music. Pegasus – The Magazine of the University of Central Florida