Comparison of Music-Based Curriculum versus an Eclectic Curriculum for Speech Acquisition in Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore whether students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) could develop enhanced expressive speech acquisition through intervention via "Precision Songs" (Kantz & Kantz, 2004) and an eclectic curricula versus using only an eclectic curricula. Three hypotheses guided the study: (1) there is no statistically significant difference in expressive language acquisition between week 1 and week 6 for students with ASD receiving both eclectic and Precision Songs curriculum; (2) there is no statistically significant difference in expressive language acquisition between students with ASD first receiving eclectic curricula during weeks 1-6, then an addition of the Precision Songs (Kantz & Kantz, 2004) curriculum to the eclectic curricula during weeks 7-12; (3) there is no statistically significant difference in expressive language acquisition between students with ASD receiving eclectic and Precision Songs curriculum versus other students receiving eclectic curricula only during weeks 1-6. This comparative study included "ex post facto" analysis of existing data. The data available for this study included pre-test scores with "Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule" (ADOS; Lord, Rutter, DiLavore, & Risi, 1999) and post-test ADOS scores of the identified students with ASD during the targeted time period. Two groups of identified students with ASD participated in an intervention of music-based speech acquisition curriculum, "Precision Songs" by Kantz and Kantz (2004), in addition to the provided eclectic curricula under the supervision of their classroom teachers. Pre-intervention and post-intervention data collected at predetermined intervals by the school district's autism team were analyzed. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was used for the non-normally distributed data to test the first null hypothesis. The second null hypothesis required using the repeated measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). An ANOVA was conducted to test the third null hypothesis. A statistically significant difference in expressive language acquisition was found for one group of students with ASD receiving an additional intervention of music-based curriculum. While the first null hypothesis was rejected, the second and third hypotheses were retained. The significant finding for the first hypothesis offers the hope that teachers can make a difference in the successful acquisition of expressive language by students with ASD because a specific group of students with ASD showed improved expressive language skills when pieces of practical information were taught to them through simple music. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone [phone]. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]