The Use of Music Therapy in Instruction Compliance for Students With Autism

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder is a neurological disorder that occurs in children that causes their neurodevelopment to be disturbed. Most studies show that autism spectrum disorder causes individuals to experience deficits or problems in terms of language and communication, social skills and behavioral patterns. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of music therapy in behavioral modification for students with autism. The study is a Single Subject Research Design and uses the ABA design. The sample of this study consists of two students, a male student and a female student who are between 11 and 13 years old. Both study samples are students with special needs in the autism category and have the same characteristics of behavioral problems. The research instrument used in this study is a questionnaire using Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and direct observation methods as well as pre and post-tests used for the data collection process and analyzed using Microsoft Excel. The findings of this study show that music therapy is effective in changing student behavior with the pre-test showing that both samples reached the baseline set for 10 minutes and the post-test showing an increase in the average time of both samples following learning activities for more than 20 minutes and the overall min is 9.6 minutes.