We recently came across a research article about the use music with Applied Behavioral Analysis Verbal Behavior and we wanted to share it with all of you. We have been working with schools and classrooms that use Applied Behavior Analysis as a primary teaching strategy for many years, and although our experience has demonstrated that music therapy is a great supplement to the instructional methods, it is nice to see the music therapy literature supporting this collaborative effort as well.
The following information comes from the article entitled Use of Music in the Applied Behavior Analysis Verbal Behavior Approach for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders by Hayoung A. Lim in Music Therapy Perspectives.
Applied Behavior Analysis (or ABA) is an approach used with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) that has been used over 20 years. This article focuses on using music therapy and Applied Behavior Analysis to increase language and communication skills. In the Applied Behavior Analysis all behaviors, including verbal behavior, contains three distinct parts:
- The antecedent – what causes the behavior, or events that lead up to a resulting behavior
- The behavior – the behaviors itself
- The consequence of the behavior – the result of a performed behavior.
(Lim 2010).
Using these three distinctions, the behaviorist establishes a pattern of circumstances resulting in specified behaviors. ABA uses strong motivational variables, known as reinforcers, that alter behaviors to illicit desired behaviors. Reinforcers may be edible, allow for short controlled contact, are easy to deliver and remove from the child, and can be repeated and given on multiple occasions.
In recent years, with the continuing development of Music Therapy in use with children on the autism spectrum, ABA in combination with music therapy has proven successful in providing children with a multifaceted opportunity for growth. Music is inherently structural, which allows it to be a solid antecedent and strong reinforcement for children with ASD (Lim 2010). Music therapy addresses a variety of goals and objectives such as social skills, cognitive skills, behavioral skills, and language and communication skills. Using a variety of interventions, music therapy is flexible and capable of catering to each child on an individual basis.
Research suggests that children with ASD have shown preference toward musical stimuli (Lim 2010), this allows music to provide experiences that children with ASD will find useful as motivational variables, as Hayoung states in the article “Age appropriate and well-facilitated musical experiences can provide powerful motivational variables and ongoing reinforcing activities for establishing such rapport between peers.” Music may also function as an “automatic reinforcer” this means that the child may respond naturally to musical stimuli without prompting to obtain the desired behavior.
Within the ABA approach, Verbal Behavior or VB, is used to increase language and communication skills. With the use of ABA VB, language and communication is treated as a behavior that is capable of being altered, formed, and reinforced. In order to treat the behavior, it is also important to focus on the reason and context the child chooses to use the language they are using. Language and communication is reinforced by the environment in which the child lives as well as motivational tools. Within the realms of music therapy, ABA VB is reinforced by the natural structure of the music, providing children with clear and concise sequences and patterns.
In Lim’s article, the following conclusion was drawn:
“Pairing target verbal behavior with musical experiences establishes effective automatic reinforcement, and it can increase the frequency of the communicative behaviors and social interactions in children with autism.”
It would seem that with evidence provided by Lim, the collaboration of ABA therapy and Music Therapy is a natural one. ABA therapy is and music therapy address the necessary goals, allowing a therapist to obtain measurable responses in a way that is functional, motivational, and most importantly, fun for the child.
Written by Channing Shippen, MT-BC
References:
Lim, H. A. (2010). Use of music in the applied behavior analysis verbal behavior approach for children with autism spectrum disorders. Music Therapy Perspectives, 28, 95-105.