Autism spectrum disorder varies in severity and in manifestation of symptoms for each diagnosed individual. For persons with more severe autism diagnoses, symptoms constitute a significant disruption to quality of life.
A variety of therapies are used to treat symptoms of ASD, including creative arts therapies such as dance therapy and music therapy. A 2013 study performed in Spain examined the effectiveness of these two therapies in combination for adults diagnosed with severe ASD. The average age of participants was 25 years. Researchers examined the results from the Revised Clinical Scale for the Evaluation of Autistic Behavior (ECA-R) for an experimental group and a control group.