“This study provides the first evidence that 8–12 weeks of individual music intervention can indeed improve social communication and functional brain connectivity, lending support to further investigations of neurobiologically motivated models of music interventions in autism.”

Sharda et al. Translational Psychiatry (2018) 8:231

DOI 10.1038/s41398-018-0287-3

“Music therapy assisted the development of Mutually Responsive Orientation within parent-child dyads by providing opportunities to rehearse adaptive ways of connecting with each other. Results of this study may serve as an archetypal model guiding clinical treatment planning.”

Varvara Pasiali, PhD, MT-BC, Supporting Parent-Child Interactions: Music Therapy as an Intervention for Promoting Mutually Responsive Orientation, Journal of Music Therapy, Volume 49, Issue 3, Fall 2012, Pages 303–334, https://doi.org/10.1093/jmt/49.3.303

“ Participants included four children enrolled in a therapeutic day school, 4–8 years of age, and diagnosed with ASD. Each child participated in twenty-four 30-minute individual DIR-based improvisational music therapy sessions over the course of 13 weeks. The Functional Emotional Assessment Scale (FEAS) was used to evaluate changes in social communication skills. Results indicated improvements in areas of self-regulation, engagement, behavioral organization, and two-way purposeful communication.”

John A Carpente, PhD, MT-BC, LCAT, Investigating the Effectiveness of a Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship-Based (DIR) Improvisational Music Therapy Program on Social Communication for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Music Therapy Perspectives, Volume 35, Issue 2, October 2017, Pages 160–174, https://doi.org/10.1093/mtp/miw013