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

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Music Hut with his peers for 10 minutes at a time. A positive outcome of the intervention
study is also evident in the following lead teacher’s statement: “I love music therapy
research studies, because they are fun and make a lot of sense to me and the children.”
Video Excerpt 6.8. Lucas performance during the teacher and peer-mediated
intervention phase of the playground interaction study.
In summary, the design and musical adaptation of the playground had some
positive effects on the target children’s play behaviors on the playground. All of the
children were attracted by the sound produced by peers in the Music Hut and explored
the instruments for short periods of time. However, the musical equipment itself did not
produce the desired outcomes regarding the children’s social interactions with peers.
This observation is consistent with a previous study that evaluated the effects of adding
musical equipment to a childcare playground to increase the social interaction with peers
for a young child with visual impairment (Kern & Wolery, 2001, 2002), studies
investigating the efficacy of ecological variations for increasing social interaction of
young children with autism (as reviewed in McConnell, 2002), and is also described in
the literature related to playground activities for children with special needs (e.g., Nabors
et al., 2001). More specifically, adaptations to the environment, combined with
individualized interventions, are needed to achieve desired therapeutic goals.
Nevertheless, the attraction of the Music Hut, the proximity to peers, and the opportunity
to engage in joint musical activities (e.g., by sharing the materials) facilitated the
involvement and motivation of the children with autism to interact with peers on the