A Case Study of Applying Music Activities to Improve Speech Ability and Stereotypical Behavior for an Elementary Student with Autism

• Main Authors: Lee, I-Hsin, 李翊欣
• Other Authors: Lin, Sheau-Yu
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/sjes37

碩士 === 臺北市立大學 === 音樂學系 === 107 === The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of applying music activities to improve speech ability and stereotypical behavior for an elementary student with Autism. The method of case study was adopted, and the research participant was a female student taking private lessons with the researcher in a music center. Music lessons lasted for 12 weeks, with every 30-minute lesson taking place one time per week. The aspect of speech ability had to do with the vocabulary numbers and the pragmatics, while the stereotypical behavior was concerned about her behavior of hand swaying, tongue playing and clothes rubbing for observing and assessing. To be more specific, the researcher drew line graphs, based upon the within-period and between-period results, as visual basis to demonstrate her progress out of music activities. Other observational records and interview data were also utilized for the analysis of qualitative and social validity The results out of implementing the music activities were listed as follows: Firstly, the case student made partial progress in the number of her vocabulary. She was also found to show initiatives in expressing herself, but needed to be prompted occasionally. Secondly, the case student made significant improvement in her pragmatics accuracy. Thirdly, the case student was found to gradually reduce her stereotypical behavior of hand swaying. Fourthly, the case student’s self-stimulating behavior of tongue playing was found to disappear. Fifthly, the case student was found to increase her stereotype behavior of cloth rubbing. Sixthly, the case student was observed to start on the behavior of lifting her clothes, but it ended soon. Seventhly, among the various music activities, the case student conducted least self-stimulating behavior in the activity of music finger games. To sum up, music activities were concluded to exert many positive impacts upon children with Autism. The suggestions were thus proposed regarding instructional practices and future studies based upon the research findings.