Abstract
Reading facial expressions is one of the non-verbal communication skills and is considered as being essential for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in terms of having effective communication and social interaction with others. Information from relevant literature indicates that musical activities can be used for teaching skills to this population. Therefore, it can be used for teaching the skill of reading expressions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of musical activities on teaching the skill of reading facial expressions to a child with ASD using musical activities. The study was conducted with a 5- year-old boy diagnosed with ASD attending a Special Education and Rehabilitation Center in Turkey. One-to-one music sessions were carried out once a week for 3 months. Interventions focusing on the emotion sadness consisted of a variety of musical activities. A descriptive analysis was used for all videotaped sessions. After 12 sessions, he showed success in the targetted behaviors. These results suggest that the therapeutic use of musical activities can be considered as an acceptable treatment option for teaching non-verbal communication skills to children with ASD.
Highlights
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disorder that can cause problems with thinking, feeling, language and the ability to relate to others
The findings indicated that their method for quantitatively measuring reduced facial expressivity during social interaction can be a promising marker for core ASD social symptoms
A holistic case study design is used for testing, confirming or refuting a well-formulated theory; studies of special situations that do not conform to general standards
Summary
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disorder that can cause problems with thinking, feeling, language and the ability to relate to others. Individuals with autism are limited and insufficient when it comes to non-verbal actions, social interaction and the matter of communication, which are all integral when it comes to social interaction (MEB, 2006; Diken, 2008). Within these limitations difficulties such as recognising and understanding displays and expressions of emotion, being able to show empathy, limited in an attempt to show/understand non-verbal communication skills such as mimics and gestures, difficulties in making eye contact, and the understanding of the emotions, views and beliefs, or the motivations of others have importance for social integration (Smith, 2007)
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