Investigating the effect of music on children and adolescents with a communication impairment

Abstract

The use of music as a therapeutic tool for individuals with communication impairments is a topic of growing interest and significance in the field of speech and language therapy. Despite the potential benefits of music in improving communication skills, limited research has been conducted locally. This study explored the perceptions and experiences of parents, children and adolescents, music therapists, and speech-language pathologists regarding the role of structured music activities in supporting the communication skills of individuals with a communication impairment. Participants included two music therapists, two speech-language pathologists, three children and adolescents with a communication impairment who attended music therapy, and their parents. A qualitative design was adopted for this study and semi-structured interviews with the participants were carried out so that in-depth insights about the topic being researched could be obtained. The qualitative data was analysed through thematic analysis and four main themes were identified: the role of music in therapy, the affinity of children and adolescents with a communication impairment towards music, perceptions about the effectiveness of music and therapy for individuals with a communication impairment, and challenges to incorporating music within speech and language therapy. The findings indicate that music-based interventions can enhance the communication skills of children and adolescents with impaired communication. This suggests that speech-language pathologists may consider using music in their therapy sessions to enhance communication skills. However, further studies consisting of larger samples are required so that the findings could be more representative and potentially generalised to the target population.