By: Stephanie H. Morris, MM, MT-BC, NMT
This article comes from the second journal produced by the American Music Therapy Association. Music Therapy Perspectives is the “clinical” journal for the practicing music therapist. According to their website, this journal is “Designed to appeal to a wide readership, both inside and outside the profession of music therapy” (www.musictherapy.org).
Dr. Thompson has many years of experience with young children diagnosed with autism. Her focus of this article is to highlight the concept of “family-centered practice” which has proved to be very effective, especially in early intervention situations when a child has been diagnosed with special needs. The therapist helps the family with practical, easy-to-use techniques in the home, targeting social and communication skills for those diagnosed with autism. She is supporting the idea through “reflections and case examples” to assist other music therapists who are interested or currently doing early intervention work.
Early childhood intervention (ECI) is a service provided to an entire family, not just the child with special needs. Dr. Thompson is from Australia, so she discusses in her article the Australian Early Child Intervention Association’s Code of Ethics which dictates the following: “develop collaborative partnerships with families; work to engage in shared decision making with families in regards to the support given to their child; work to support and complement the skills of the family by recognizing their existing strengths; and respect the family’s right to choose the way they wish to be involved in the services provided…” (p. 109).
Taking this directive to heart, Dr. Thompson reiterates the need for the practitioner, especially the music therapist, to work closely with the family, is respectful and supports them in the very personal environment called their home. The idea is to develop interpersonal engagement and relationship between the parent(s) and their child. This interpersonal engagement is a precursor to many social skills that we often take advantage of, but when dealing with a child with autism, are skills that have to be developed. These may include the child facing their parent, taking turns with others, and joint attention skills. Since social skills such as these are often non-verbal, Thompson stresses that early work on these skills is vital.
Her article then focuses on providing a model for a family-centered music therapy practice. She identifies eight components needed and interspersed are case examples to further give direction for how the component functions in a real-life situation. Her eight components are: family centered practice; attune to the child’s mood and behavior/following the child’s lead; enticing the child with motivating activities, music therapist presents with positive affect, acceptance, and affection; the music therapist presents as a play partner; keep the child’s anxiety low; Assess the need for structure, choice or control; matching the child’s abilities; understanding social communication development theories; and child initiates engagement. Page 111 of the document presents a flow chart with shows how these eight components form a circle which will continue to function if all elements are used appropriately.
Dr. Thompson concludes by saying, “Within the framework, the practitioner is not only concerned with outcomes for children by also the ways these outcomes are facilitated” (p.114). She also shared how one mother stated that within the music therapy session, she was able to see her son as “normal” and not “autistic.
These types of scholarly articles are vital to not only music therapists but to other interested parties because they give practical, session-tested evidence of the way music therapy can be valuable to a family centered practice focusing on early intervention.
Thompson, G. (2012). Family-centered music therapy in the home environment: Promoting interpersonal engagement between children with autism spectrum disorder and their parents. Music Therapy Perspectives, 30(2), pp.109 – 129.