Case Study: The Use of the Cello in Music Therapy for Children with Autism

Abstract

This study investigates the use of the cello within music therapy for children with autism. The main objectives of this study are to examine the use of the cello for reducing anxieties, building self-esteem, and developing communication. I researched a breadth of literature to support my chosen topic. By incorporating my own experiences alongside existing literature, I identified research gaps, prompting me to explore in further detail my chosen topic through a case study series of my own work. I engaged in music therapy with three children and focused on the first six music therapy sessions with each of them, addressing the main purpose of this study. Primarily, I collected the data by writing down notes based on my observations from these sessions. Additionally, with child and parental consent, data were also collected from audio and video recordings of sessions. Having then identified key themes from sessions, I was able to compare the use of the cello for each child in music therapy sessions. In general, my results mostly showed positive effects for each child when the cello was used; however, barriers to using the cello were also identified, where perhaps the cello had some negative effects on the children I worked with. This research was conducted over several weeks, and once completed, music therapy engagement continued with two of the children. This gave me some insight into the effects of the use of the cello on these children beyond the first six sessions. However, when sessions were completed with each child, the effects that the cello may have on these children on a longer-term scale are unknown. In the future, it would be beneficial to include a wider range of children with an autistic condition for the purposes of such a study, to enhance the understanding and effectiveness of the use of the cello with this client group. It may also be beneficial to include young people in mainstream secondary schools, to target a wider age range and to see the effects of the use of the cello for older aged children. Finally, it could be recommended to direct this study over a longer period, to see the longer-term effects the cello has on children with autism.