Resources & references

This case study explores a music therapy assessment of an autistic child in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It presents the stages of the assessment, assessment tools, and assessment findings.

Music therapist Natalia Garbarets explains what music therapy is, how it differs from musical education, and what are its benefits.

Read about a therapy program by an art and music therapist for transgender, nonbinary, and gender-questioning youth, supporting gender identity exploration and learn about the challenges and opportunities encountered during its pilot implementation.

This article introduces an adaptation of the music therapy and autism specific AQR-instrument. The author developed this adaptation following the requirement to report on the outcomes of his work at a school for children with autism. After introducing the AQR-instrument, the author describes how his adaptation enables him to produce bar charts illustrating client progress. 

The purpose of this theoretical paper is to examine current literature in developmental psychology in order to discuss how music therapy can foster resilience in early childhood. Music therapy can help prepare young children and their families for handling adversity, increase parental sensitivity, and create multiple opportunities for families to develop adaptive interpersonal interaction patterns.

Read a research article on the use of music in the lives of children with severe forms of cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities. Findings suggest that music is a very important method in allowing these children to connect with the world around them and interact with others, and that parents were often unaware of their child's potential, demonstrated especially through their musical interactions. Discussion for the collaboration between parents and professionals, particularly music therapists, is also included.

Simra was born with the rare conditions Lebers Amaurosis and Joubert Syndrome leaving her with total blindness as well as having poor muscle tone, co-ordination and balance. Watch as Simra explores the world through music with the help of Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the program DRUMBEAT (Discovering Relationships Using Music, Beliefs, Emotions, Attitudes and Thoughts), a ten-week school-based intervention. Linear mixed model analyses showed there were significant improvements in students’ self-esteem, and internalising and externalising behaviours, as reported by students and teachers. Drumming has the potential to draw young people into an educative environment where rhythm, collaboration and discussion can enhance understanding of intra- and interpersonal processes.

Ryan Judd, a board-certified music therapist, explains why hello songs are used in music therapy sessions. He also provides an example of a hello song and demonstrates how it can be adapted for both children and teenagers.

Discover a playlist of 22 music videos created by certified music therapist, Tiana Malone to target various speech sounds for children. The videos are designed to be accessible to low-vision children.

Click here to read an article on speech and language development among children pertinent to music therapy.

Learn how music therapy is used in Australian schools to support children's learning and development, including the availability of different programs. 

Music therapist Lisa Martino explains and shows how she uses music therapy to support students, including those with multiple disabilities, at the Perkins School for the Blind.