The Role of Music Therapy in Enhancing Social, Emotional, and Cognitive Development in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Ya Zuo

doi:10.54254/2753-7048/2025.21710

Research Article

Open access

Published on 31 March 2025

Download pdf

Zuo,Y. (2025). The Role of Music Therapy in Enhancing Social, Emotional, and Cognitive Development in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,89,1-6.

Export citation

The Role of Music Therapy in Enhancing Social, Emotional, and Cognitive Development in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Ya Zuo *^,1,

¹ College of Education, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195, United States

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7048/2025.21710

Abstract

Music therapy has emerged as a promising intervention for enhancing the emotional regulation and social reciprocity of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), their cognitive development, and fostering good relations between them and their parents. ASD has an impact on social interaction, emotional regulation, and cognitive development, which in turn affects individuals and their families. Music therapy can deal with these challenges. It promotes emotional expression, social interaction, cognitive abilities, and parent-child cooperation, enabling families to support the overall development of the child. This literature review discusses the use of music therapy to help manage the emotions of children with autism, helping with reciprocal social interactions, building up stronger cognitive functions, and relationships within a family. It synthesizes current research findings, highlighting how music therapy creates opportunities for meaningful emotional engagement, supports the development of social skills, promotes cognitive growth, and empowers parents through family-centered interventions. Additionally, music therapy improves joint attention and imitation by improving core social and emotional development abilities. It also strengthens the cognitive skills necessary for adaptive functioning. Moreover, family members participating in music therapy sessions can better understand their child’s abilities and learn effective strategies to promote developmentally appropriate skill acquisition within the home.

Keywords

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Music Therapy, Social Communication Skills, Behavioral Intervention

View pdf

References

[1]. Autism diagnostic criteria: DSM-5. Autism Speaks. (n.d.). https://www.autismspeaks.org/autism-diagnostic-criteria-dsm-5

[2]. Geretsegger, M., Elefant, C., Mössler, K. A., Gold, C., & Gold, C. (2014). Music therapy for people with autism spectrum disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2016(3), CD004381–CD004381. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD004381.pub3

[3]. Srinivasan, S. M., & Bhat, A. N. (2013). A review of “music and movement” therapies for children with autism: embodied interventions for multisystem development. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 7, 22–22. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2013.00022

[4]. Rabeyron, T., Robledo del Canto, J.-P., Carasco, E., Bisson, V., Bodeau, N., Vrait, F.-X., Berna, F., & Bonnot, O. (2020). A randomized controlled trial of 25 sessions comparing music therapy and music listening for children with autism spectrum disorder. Psychiatry Research, 293, 113377–113377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113377

[5]. Kim, J., Wigram, T., & Gold, C. (2009). Emotional, motivational and interpersonal responsiveness of children with autism in improvisational music therapy. Autism : The International Journal of Research and Practice, 13(4), 389–409. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361309105660

[6]. Rickson, D. (2021). Family members’ and other experts’ perceptions of music therapy with children on the autism spectrum in New Zealand: Findings from multiple case studies. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 75, 101833-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2021.101833

[7]. Mok, K.-M., Sze, C. H. H., Yu, C. C. W., Mak, E., Chan, D. F. Y., & Wong, S. W. L. (2024). A Self-Narrative Study: Changes in Physical Ability and Social Communication in Children with Autism through Taekwondo Training with Elements of Music Therapy from the Parents’ Perspective. Behavioral Sciences, 14(7), 530-. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14070530

[8]. Ruiz, M., Groessing, A., Guran, A., Koçan, A. U., Mikus, N., Nater, U. M., Kouwer, K., Posserud, M.-B., Salomon-Gimmon, M., Todorova, B., Wagner, I. C., Gold, C., Silani, G., & Specht, K. (2023). Music for autism: a protocol for an international randomized crossover trial on music therapy for children with autism. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, 1256771-. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1256771

[9]. Crawford, M. J., Gold, C., Odell-Miller, H., Thana, L., Faber, S., Assmus, J., Bieleninik, Ł., Geretsegger, M., Grant, C., Maratos, A., Sandford, S., Claringbold, A., McConachie, H., Maskey, M., Mössler, K. A., Ramchandani, P., & Hassiotis, A. (2017). International multicentre randomised controlled trial of improvisational music therapy for children with autism spectrum disorder: TIME-A study. Health Technology Assessment (Winchester, England), 21(59), 1–40. https://doi.org/10.3310/hta21590

[10]. Vlachová, Z. (2022). Means of Musical Dialogues and Reciprocity: Improvisational Music Therapy for Social Interaction of a Preschool Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Voices : A World Forum for Music Therapy, 22(2), 1-. https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v22i2.3191

[11]. Fan, Q., Ding, M., Cheng, W., Su, L., Zhang, Y., Liu, Q., & Wu, Z. (2024). The clinical effects of Orff music therapy on children with autism spectrum disorder: a comprehensive evaluation. Frontiers in Neurology, 15, 1387060-. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2024.1387060

Cite this article

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

Disclaimer/Publisher's Note

The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s). EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Education Innovation and Philosophical Inquiries

Conference website: https://www.iceipi.org/

ISBN：978-1-80590-038-2(Print) / 978-1-80590-037-5(Online)

Conference date: 20 August 2025

Editor：Mallen Enrique

Series: Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media

Volume number: Vol.89

ISSN：2753-7048(Print) / 2753-7056(Online)

© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See Open access policy for details).