Influence of Music Engagement and Movement on Daily Living Skills in Children with Down Syndrome

Abstract

Many studies have found that Orff-Schulwerk music activities can be used to help children with special needs learn various skills; however, little research has been conducted on Orff-Schulwerk as a tool for helping children with Down syndrome (DS) learn skills of daily living. To fill this research gap, a collective case study was conducted. This study recruited five children with DS aged 7–10 years to participate in an 8-week class to develop two skills of daily living through music engagement and movement (MEM) based on Orff-Schulwerk. Four participants nearly or fully mastered the two skills, and only one did not have complete mastery and needed prompting to perform both daily living skills correctly. This finding suggests that MEM can help children with DS learn skills of daily living. Thematic analysis showed that the fun of musical activities kept DS children interested and enjoying the MEM program. Meanwhile, MEM helped children to concentrate, understand and memorize daily living skills in the class. In addition, the encouragement and affirmation given by the teacher helped them to increase their self-confidence in classes and not to give up easily due to difficulties.