Autism - Children's Improvisational Music Therapy Evaluation

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of individual sessions of improvisational music therapy for autistic children aged 7 - 11.

Researchers will compare the impact of adding improvisational music therapy to usual care alone for autistic children over a 12-week period.

Participants will be randomly assigned to one of the following two conditions: the Improvisational Music Therapy (intervention) Group or the support as usual (control) Group.

The aim is to achieve seven overarching objectives:

1. To determine whether 12 weeks of individual sessions of improvisational music therapy in addition to support as usual is superior to support as usual alone in improving social communication in autistic children.
2. To examine whether 12 weeks of individual sessions of improvisational music therapy in addition to support as usual is superior to support as usual alone in improving communication skills in autistic children.
3. To examine whether 12 weeks of individual sessions of improvisational music therapy in addition to support as usual is superior to support as usual alone in reducing psychosocial problems in autistic children.
4. To examine whether 12 weeks of individual sessions of improvisational music therapy in addition to support as usual is superior to support as usual alone in improving wellbeing of autistic children.
5. To examine whether 12 weeks of individual sessions of improvisational music therapy in addition to support as usual is superior to support as usual alone in improving adaptive functioning in autistic children.
6. To examine whether 12 weeks of individual sessions of improvisational music therapy in addition to support as usual is superior to support as usual alone in improving anxiety in autistic children.
7. To examine whether the therapeutic relationship predicts the development of social, communication and language skills among autistic children.

Conditions

• Autism

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Improvisational Music Therapy

The therapist engages with the child by playing and sharing musical instruments, and/or sings while being attuned to the child's behaviour and expression. Various improvisational techniques are employed to engage the child. There are opportunities for pulse, rhythmic, dynamic or melodic patterns, and timbre to be mirrored, reinforced, or complemented, which allows for moments of synchronization between the therapist and the child, giving the child's musical expressions a pragmatic meaning within this context. The therapist may also gently provoke the child by violating expectations or patterns that have been jointly developed in order to elicit specific social communication behaviours. Further, there are opportunities for the child to develop and enhance social communication skills such as joint attention, sharing affect, reciprocity, shared history, scaffolding, imitation and turn-taking. These have been shown to develop social competency and also resilience.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Anglia Ruskin University

  collaborator OTHER

• Musical Universe

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Rosetrees Trust

  collaborator OTHER

• Stoneygate Trust

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Autism Centre of Excellence

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Prof Simon Baron-Cohen

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jonathan Pool, PhD · Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research. Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge

• David M. David M. Greenberg, PhD · Musical Universe Inc. USA

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

7 Years

Max Age

11 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2023-11-13

Primary Completion

2025-12-31

Completion

2025-12-31

Countries

• United Kingdom

Study Locations