Where would the world be without music? We (moms) use it to calm babies, teach new skills, communicate, and more. Music is a no-brainer for kids with ASD. It is a powerful tool that can help them in so many ways. It’s not just a mom’s gut feeling. Studies show that music can help build resilience, improve communication, reduce stress, enhance social behavior, boost self-awareness and coordination, and sharpen motor functions.
Why is Music Good for Children with Autism?
If your child has ASD, consider introducing music to their daily routine. There are many positive benefits to gain. But before we explore them, let’s find out why music is good for children with autism and strikes the chords of our wellness.
From the mind to the entire body, music is excellent for your wellness
When we listen to music (what you like), it activates both hemispheres of the brain. The sound waves move into the brain and activate the pleasure centers. The brain releases dopamine (a feel-good hormone) and lowers cortisol (the stress hormone). It makes you feel calmer and more relaxed.
Music triggers numerous self-healing psychological and physiological reactions and sets you on a path of wellness. But this is not just an emotional statement. There are hard scientific facts to back it up.
Numerous studies confirm the positive effect of music. Music helps us relax, boosts the immune system, and improves our well-being. For people with ASD, music does a lot more. Read on and learn how music helps autistic children.
Music is good for the brain.
Music can work wonders for the human brain, and people with ASD are no exception. What’s particularly interesting is how music helps with some of the unique challenges many people with ASD face.
According to neuroscientist Ben Spielberg with Bespoke Treatment, “Research strongly suggests that music therapy can be a great way to help autistic children improve their cognitive function in several ways. This is largely thanks to music’s ability to improve brain overconnectivity and decrease the mental overstimulation that ASD children often experience, resulting in better cognitive facilities such as self-control, learning, and memory.”
It’s not entirely clear how music is so helpful in biomechanics, but its therapeutic abilities to make things easier for children with ASD are apparent.
Music helps kids build resilience.
Resilience is an invaluable quality that everyone requires. But it is especially crucial for kids with ASD. They should build their resilience muscles to succeed in all these other skills. In fact, experts advise that caregivers should emphasize building resilience more than reducing symptoms in kids with ASD. Fortunately, music is a handy tool that can help you instill that indispensable quality in a child with special needs.
Studies show that music therapy enhances resilience in kids with ASD.
Music helps them build their resilience muscles through learning and retaining information. As they practice playing increasingly complex songs, the kids build new capacities and become more resilient.
Music improves communication skills.
Autistic children often experience challenges like social withdrawal, echolalia, or repetition of words and have difficulty interpreting non-verbal cues and body language. These symptoms can make it difficult for them to express themselves and interact with others. However, music has a different effect.
An autistic child may feel more comfortable singing with other kids in a group setup. The song could be about anything, from brushing their teeth to tunes about the local geography. When they sing, kids with ASD improve vocalization, verbalization, vocabulary, comprehension, and understanding of gestures.
It reduces stress
Kids with ASD are usually more sensitive to stress than children without special conditions. When they experience stress, kids with ASD are likely to express more stereotyped behaviors. Research shows that there is a link between stress levels and autistic symptoms. Besides, researchers suspect that the typical behaviors could be reactions to stress.
But as we mentioned in the opener, music is the magical antidote mothers use with a distressed child, especially a kid with ASD. Singing triggers the release of happy hormones and helps them to calm down. Music can also reduce the effects of panic attacks and depression.
If you’re passionate about helping others and interested in exploring the healing power of music, taking a music therapy course can equip you with the knowledge and skills to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.
Improves social behavior
We’ve already mentioned that kids with ASD, due to communication challenges, tend to withdraw from social setups. But when you put on some music, or when they sing along to some tunes, it not only helps them feel more comfortable but can immensely improve their social behaviors, boost focus, and increase communication attempts. Songs can help kids with ASD role play, practice play, learn praise, experience social stories, and more.
Enhances body awareness and coordination
Since music activates both hemispheres of the brain, it can stimulate cognitive abilities and can be used to enhance awareness and coordination. Research shows that music can stimulate brain regions that overlap the human mirror neuron system. When kids listen to a song or participate in action songs, they improve self-awareness and boost sensory coordination.
Improves motor functions
Every song has a rhythm, a component that organizes the sensory system for kids with ASD. As the kids listen to songs, research shows they improve on auditory processing and other sensory-motor, gross, and fine-motor skills. An excellent example is Kodi Lee, who, though autistic and blind, stunned the nation with his extraordinary piano skills when he appeared on America’s Got Talent.