The Analysis of the Music Therapy Program's Effect on Taking Turn-Sharing Skills and Expressing Feelings of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

This study aimed to reveal the influence of a music therapy program on the development of abilities to take turn-share and express feelings of an eight-year-old child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This research was designed using mixed research methods, and carried out in a state school which had a source class, in 2016-2017 academic year. The music therapy program was developed by the researcher and applied to the participant in individual format. The participant was involved in 70 individual music therapy sessions held in the previously prepared room and 19 lessons in the subject's classroom observed by the researcher, i.e. lesson observations. Music therapy sessions and lesson observations were quantitatively analyzed with the use of Oldfield's Video Analysis Method. The results of the analysis revealed that the participant's social skills of taking turn-sharing and expressing feelings improved both in music therapy and in lesson observations. The results of the research were discussed alongside the related literature.