The effectiveness of music therapy on academic enthusiasm and vitality of male students with autism spectrum disorder

Introduction: Children with autism in school are often exposed to assignments that are challenging for them and they are not enthusiastic about it, and this reduces their academic vitality. Therefore, the necessity of providing an intervention that can improve the enthusiasm and academic vitality of these children is felt. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of music therapy on the enthusiasm and academic vitality of male students with autism spectrum disorder.
Method: The current applied research was conducted using a semi-experimental method with a pre-test-post-test design with a follow-up period. The statistical population of the research was made up of 80 male students with autism spectrum disorder studying at Tabasom School in Mashhad in the academic year of 2019 along with their mothers. In order to carry out the research, 34 autistic mother-sons from this school were randomly selected and replaced in two experimental and control groups, and the pre-test was conducted using the academic enthusiasm questionnaire (AES) and the academic vitality questionnaire (AVQ). The experimental group underwent 10 weekly music therapy sessions of 60 minutes. The control group was on the waiting list during this time. After the completion of the treatment sessions and 45 days later, the two groups were re-evaluated. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 26 and with the method of analysis of variance with repeated measurements.
Results: The findings showed that the effect of the within-group variable of time on academic enthusiasm and academic vitality is significant (p≤0.05). The intergroup variable effect of the intervention is also significant in increasing academic enthusiasm and academic vitality (p≤0.05). In addition, the results continued in the follow-up phase (p≤0.05).
Discussion and conclusion: The findings of the research indicated that music therapy can be used as a suitable treatment method to increase the enthusiasm and academic vitality of male students with autism spectrum disorder.