Using a Music Therapy Collaborative Consultative Approach - World ...

and engagement ranged from a low of 10% to a high of 50%, and produced similar play and
engagement levels as in Condition B.
6.5 Discussion
The major purpose of Experiment III was to evaluate the effects of the musical
adaptation of a childcare playground, more generally and more specifically, the effects of an
individually designed music therapy intervention, on on-playground peer interactions among
four young children diagnosed with ASD and their peers. An additional purpose was to
determine whether the classroom teachers could implement the intervention into ongoing
playground activities after staff development activities were provided, as well as whether the
child’s peers could be trained to continue with the intervention.
From this investigation an array of findings are worth noting. Prior to the musical
adaptation of the playground, the data indicate that the target children with autism had hardly
any positive peer interactions on the playground. The musical adaptation of the playground
enhanced the target children’s positive peer interactions slightly, but not significantly. Two
out of the four target children engaged in more meaningful play by using the musical
equipment available in the Music Hut. The implementation of the teacher-mediated song
intervention increased the children’s positive peer interactions immediately and significantly.
As evidenced by the procedure fidelity data, with only one exception the teachers’ accuracy
in implementing the intervention into the ongoing playground activities was very high.
Furthermore, a correlation between correct implementation and the target children’s skill
improvement was observed. Peers participated in the intervention and learned to facilitate
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