Development Studies Commons^™

The Impact Of Music Therapy On Language Acquisition In Children With Nonverbal Autism, Alecia Bernau

Senior Honors Theses

Through an experimental method, the researcher investigated whether children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely to develop verbal communication skills after consistent exposure to songs with lyrics. Six children with nonverbal ASD were exposed to the same song with lyrics, with the goal of increased vocalization and language acquisition. Over nine sessions, subjects were pulled to participate in the experiment. The researcher played the song for the participants, recording the responses from each trial and categorizing them as either full words, verbal approximations, or miscellaneous verbalizations. The findings of the study suggest that there is a relationship between …

An Analysis On The Effects Of Melodic Based Communication Therapy On Verbal Behavior In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Meghan Kathleen Casperson

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to analyze the effect Melodic Based Communication Therapy has on minimally verbal children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, particularly tact responses and their generalization in the natural environment. MBCT is a replicable protocol for pairing melodies with target words to elicit speech in children with neurodevelopmental and language impairment. There is a call for the MBCT’s replication to widen the research on this approach in natural settings and across children with ASD and other developmental disabilities.

A multiple baseline design across participants was used to determine the impact MBCT has on the tact responding in …