Modifying Behaviors of Children with Autism: The Use of Musically Adapted Social Stories in Home-Based Environments

• Other Authors: Chan, Yuen-Man (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Music
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-3925

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of social stories and their musically adapted versions on modifying behaviors of children with autism in home-based environments within a Chinese culture. "Social stories" are used to teach social skills to children with autism by providing them with accurate social information for specific situations. Participants in this study were four Chinese children with a primary diagnosis of autism in Hong Kong. An individualized social story was created for each participant that addressed a behavioral problem identified by the parents. Original music was then composed to incorporate the sentences of the story as lyrics. An ABAC/ACAB counterbalanced design was used where the first and third components (A) represented the baseline conditions, the second component (B) represented the treatment condition "reading the story," and the fourth component (C) represented the treatment condition "singing the story." These conditions served as the independent variables for this study. The dependent variable was the frequency or duration of the target behavior as exhibited by the participants under each condition of the independent variables. Results indicated that both forms of the social story, spoken and sung, were successful in significantly modifying problematic behaviors in two of the four participants. These results suggest that a musical presentation of social stories may be a viable alternative treatment option to teach social skills to some children with autism. === A Thesis submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music. === Fall Semester, 2005. === October 31, 2005. === Behavior Modification in Autism, Music Therapy, Social Stories, Children with Autism === Includes bibliographical references. === Alice-Ann Darrow, Professor Directing Thesis; Clifford K. Madsen, Committee Member; Jayne M. Standley, Committee Member.