A Pilot Study on the Efficacy of Melodic Based Communication Therapy for Eliciting Speech in Nonverbal Children with Autism

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders 2013-06, Vol.43 (6), p.1298-1307
• Main Authors: Sandiford, Givona A., Mainess, Karen J., Daher, Noha S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Allied Health Occupations Education; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Autistic children; Autistic Disorder - complications; Autistic Disorder - therapy; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Brain Hemisphere Functions; Care and treatment; Child; Child and School Psychology; Child clinical studies; Child, Preschool; Communication; Communication (Thought Transfer); Communication Strategies; Comparative Analysis; Comprehension; Control Groups; Demographic aspects; Developmental disorders; Efficacy; Evidence; Family Environment; Female; Home environment; Humans; Infantile autism; Intonation; Language Acquisition; Male; Medical sciences; Melodics; Music Techniques; Music Therapy; Music Therapy - methods; Neurosciences; Nonverbal Communication; Original Paper; Patient outcomes; Pediatrics; Pilot Projects; Prevention; Program Effectiveness; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Public Health; Risk factors; Speech; Speech and language therapy; Speech Disorders - etiology; Speech Disorders - therapy; Speech Language Pathology; Speech therapy; Speech Therapy - methods; Therapy; Treatment Outcome; Young Children
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-012-1672-z

The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of Melodic Based Communication Therapy (MBCT) to traditional speech and language therapy for eliciting speech in nonverbal children with autism. Participants were 12 nonverbal children with autism ages 5 through 7 randomly assigned to either treatment group. Both groups made significant progress after treatment. The MBCT group progressed significantly in number of verbal attempts after weeks 1 through 4 and number of correct words after weeks 1 and 3, while the traditional group progressed significantly after weeks 4 and 5. No significant differences in number of verbal attempts or number of correct words were noted between groups following treatment. A significant number of new words were heard in the home environment for the MBCT group ( p  = .04). Participants in the MBCT group had more imitative attempts ( p  = .03). MBCT appears to be a valid form of intervention for children with autism.