Musical stimulation as an innovative tool for the comprehensive development of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Music is a key strategy to promote communication, social relations and behavioural development, thanks to the benefits it brings in the main areas of human development, such as language and communication. The main objective of this research is to analyse the benefits of musical stimulation in the development of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), based on an innovative educational project implemented in the Primary Education stage with a group of students with special educational needs associated with ASD in an educational centre. This project uses musical stimulation as an innovative tool to improve the teaching-learning process of these students. This investigation combines quantitative and qualitative methods. The data collection methods used were direct observation, interview and questionnaire. The results obtained reveal that musical stimulation is a very useful tool for working on the common difficulties of ASD, obtaining a positive impact on the integral development of the participating students. Specifically, improvements have been observed in different dimensions, including better communication among these students, increased social relations and normalization of conduct and behavior.