Conocimiento y sus características

Demographic data of all 25 participants were collected at baseline. These data are provided in the following table, which also lists the characteristics of the children in the music therapy treatment group. The column presenting the data of the music therapy group is divided to specify numbers and percentages for the whole music therapy group (13 children), for the subgroup of children receiving low-intensity music therapy (6 children), and for the subgroup of children receiving high-intensity music therapy (7 children). The data were collected as part of the TIME-A study which determined the use of the diagnostic assessment tools Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS).

Table 5: Baseline characteristics All children

(N = 25)

Music therapy group (n = 13) Low + High (n = 13) Low-intensity (n = 6) High-intensity (n = 7) No (%) No (%) No (%) No (%) Sex Male 21 (84) 10 (76.9) 4 (66.7) 6 (85.7) Female 4 (16) 3 (23.1) 2 (33.3) 1 (14.3) School Special school 20 (80) 10 (76.9) 5 (83.3) 5 (71.4) Mainstream school 5 (20) 3 (23.1) 1 (16.7) 2 (28.6) Verbal ability Verbal 12 (48) 7 (53.8) 4 (66.7) 3 (42.9) Non-verbal 13 (52) 6 (46.2) 2 (33.3) 4 (57.1) IQa > 70 9 (36) 6 (46.2) 4 (66.7) 2 (28.6 ≤ 70 16 (64) 7 (53.8) 2 (33.3) 5 (71.4) ADOS module Module 1 22 (88) 11 (84.6) 4 (66.7) 7 (100) Module 2 3 (12) 2 (15.4) 2 (33.3) 0 (0)

All children (N = 25)

Music therapy group (n = 13) Low + High (n = 13) Low-intensity (n = 6) High-intensity (n = 7) No (%) No (%) No (%) No (%) SRS rangeb Severe range 22 (91.7) 11 (91.7) 6 (100) 5 (83.3) Moderate range 2 (8.3) 1 (8.3) 0 (0) 1 (16.7) Ethnicity White British 12 (48) 4 (30.8) 2 (33.3) 2 (28.6) Other 13 (52) 9 (69.2) 4 (66.7) 5 (71.4) Family Two parents 15 (60) 6 (46.2) 4 (66.7) 2 (28.6) Single parent 6 (24) 4 (30.8) 2 (33.3) 2 (28.6) Foster family 4 (16) 3 (23.1) 0 (0) 3 (42.9) Abbreviations: ADOS, Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule; High, High-intensity music therapy treatment group (three sessions each week); Low, Low-intensity music therapy treatment group (one session each week); No, Number; SRS, Social Responsiveness Scale

a _{No quantitative IQ assessment was conducted, only a categorical clinical judgment whether a learning}

disability (IQ ≤ 70) was present

b _{The SRS of one child in the music therapy treatment group (high-intensity) could not be scored}

because too many item responses were missing. As a result, sample sizes for SRS range are N = 24 for all children and n = 12 for the music therapy group.

Baseline characteristics of the 13 children in the music therapy treatment subgroup were similar to the baseline characteristics of the whole group in most respects. They had a mean age of 5 years 4 months (SD = 10 months), compared to 5 years 6 months, at randomisation. The majority of participants were male (76.9% in the music therapy group, 84% amongst all participants). Children were recruited from three schools. In the cohort, 20 children (80%) attended special schools and five children attended a mainstream school, of which ten children in special schools and three children in the mainstream school were allocated to music therapy.

Figure 14: Baseline characteristics - Sex and school

All participants (N = 25) Music therapy group (n = 13)

At baseline, 13 children (52%) were non-verbal. In order to be considered verbal, children had to use at least five meaningful words in more than one situation. According to the judgement of the clinical psychologist administrating the ADOS, 16 children (64%) had an IQ ≤ 70. In the music therapy treatment group, the proportion of non-verbal children and the percentage of children with an IQ ≤ 70 were slightly lower (46.2% and 53.8%, respectively). The low- and high-intensity treatment subgroups were not well-balanced regarding IQ scores. Only 33.3% of the children in the low-intensity group were judged to have an IQ ≤ 70, whereas 71.4% of the children in the high-intensity treatment group had an IQ ≤ 70.

Figure 15: Baseline characteristics - Verbal ability and IQ

All participants (N = 25) Music therapy group (n = 13)

Most children at this site were assessed with ADOS Module 1 (88%), receiving a mean summary score of M = 18.1 (SD = 4.3). ADOS Module 1 is used with children who do not consistently use phrase speech. Three children were evaluated using ADOS Module 2 with a mean summary score of M = 11.3 (SD = 4.7). ADOS Module 2 is applied with children who use phrase speech but who are not verbally fluent. No child in this group was assessed with ADOS Module 3, which is administered with verbally fluent children. In the SRS rated by parents, 22 children obtained a raw score ≥ 98 (T-score ≥ 76) and thus fell into the category ‘severe range’. Two children received a score corresponding with the ‘moderate range’. The SRS of one child could not be scored, as more than 16 item responses were missing (see Constantino & Gruber, 2005, p. 5). The total SRS mean score was M = 120.8 (SD = 21.4). ADOS scores and SRS scores of children in the music therapy treatment group were almost identical to the respective scores in the group of all participants. Both standardised tests, the ADOS which is administered by a psychologist and the SRS which is administered by parents, indicate that the majority of children in this cohort fell into the severe range of ASD.

Low

Whereas approximately half of the children in the group of all participants had an ethnicity other than White British, more than two-thirds of the children in the music therapy group fell into the category ‘Other ethnicity’. A high proportion of children lived with a single parent (24%) or with foster parents (16%). In the treatment subgroup, the percentage of children living with single or foster parents was even higher and accounted for 30.8% and 23.1%, respectively, of the participants in this group.

Figure 16: Baseline characteristics - Ethnicity and family

All participants (N = 25) Music therapy group (n = 13)

In the following sections, I present results from the data analysis of music therapy sessions and of parent counselling sessions. Sessions from the 13 children in the music therapy group were included in these analyses. To illustrate findings, names of children in the treatment group are used in the text or in figures. For confidentiality reasons, all the names of children have been changed. Table 6 lists the assigned names, the children’s allocation to the low- or high-intensity treatment subgroup, and their verbal ability.

Table 6: Assigned names, treatment intensity, and verbal ability of children

Assigned name Treatment intensity Verbal ability

Arjun (male) Low-intensity No Ben (male) Low-intensity Yes Charlie (male) High-intensity No Denise (female) Low-intensity Yes Eric (male) High-intensity Yes Fiona (female) Low-intensity Yes Ghalib (male) Low-intensity Yes Henry (male) High-intensity No Isaac (male) High-intensity Yes Jahnu (male) High-intensity Yes Kyle (male) Low-intensity No Leanne (female) High-intensity No Malik (male) High-intensity No