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

above conditions and the nature of the experimental design. Another limitation, shared with
Experiments I, is that this experiment was not a comparison study. We do not know if other
interventions would have been equally effective, more effective, or less effective in
increasing the social interchanges among children with autism and their peers on
playgrounds. From this study it cannot be assumed that other teachers are willing or able to
implement interventions based on music therapy principles and guidelines. Nor do we know
if other “peer buddies” would have participated equally or more effectively in increasing the
target children’s positive interaction and play and engagement on the playground.
Several issues should be considered in future studies. For example, more research is
clearly warranted to provide further validity to musical adaptations of a childcare
playground. Research should investigate the use of an outdoor music center as a
motivational environment for learning and development for both children with and without
special needs. More intervention studies that apply music therapy on playgrounds to foster
social experiences and other therapeutic goals for children with special needs, especially
those with autism are needed.
To recapitulate, this study was not a comparison study. Therefore, it is not known if
more familiar songs (as the results of Experiment II suggest) or other interventions would
have been equally, more, or less effective. These considerations lie beyond the scope of this
inquiry, however, and more studies are needed that compare the effects of a variety of songs
and other interventions on social skill improvements of young children with autism on
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