Currently there has been some thought and talk around connectivity between motor skills and social skills in children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Therefore, the researchers Ga Eul Yoo, and Soo Ji Kim decided to set up a study to explore the potential benefits of using rhythmic behaviors to increase social skills in children diagnosed with ASD. Yoo and Kim set up a two part study. The purpose of the study was to see the impact between dyadic drum playing and social skills as well as to create a rhythm mediated music therapy intervention to be utilized to improve social skills in children with ASD. Part one of the study had 42 neuro typical participants and 10 children with ASD. The study consisted of a factor analysis to examine whether dyadic drumming was related to social skills with these participants. During the second study a preliminary pilot study was conducted with a rhythmic mediated music therapy intervention to see the impact on social skills with 8 children with ASD. In study one the results showed that there were four factors related to dyadic drum playing that influenced social skills in children with ASD. Utilizing rhythmic cueing and tempo adjustment was shown to correlate with social skills. This provided a strong rationale that dyadic drum playing could help to influence social skills. This encouraged part two of the study. The results for part two of the study showed that participants had greater joint action following the intervention. The study also showed decreased asynchrony between peers when tapping with a partner. Therefore, utilizing a rhythmic mediated music therapy intervention that includes dyadic drumming could have a potential benefit on joint attention and other social skills within children with ASD.
By Kylie Rodríguez MM, MT-BC
Yoo, et al. “Dyadic Drum Playing and Social Skills: Implications for Rhythm-Mediated Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder | Journal of Music Therapy | Oxford Academic.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, The Royal Society, 20 Aug. 2018, doi.org/10.1093/jmt/thy013.