Music therapy with a young man with autism

It has been really fun working with this 7 year old boy with autism that I see.  The music therapy has been really great at helping him make social connections.  It has been fun to watch him begin answering questions in the context of the songs, singing with me, and asking me for his favorite music.

At the last session, during one of his favorite songs, he made a point of looking at me to make eye contact and make sure that we were in sync musically.  That was so huge because eye contact in general is a difficutl thing for people with autism.  But not only was he making eye contact, he was making eye contact for a specific social purpose!

Music therapy gives unique connection for a young adult with autism

I am working with a young woman with autism who recently became an aunt again.  Her little nephew (2 months old) was with us in our last session.  The young woman talks only rarely, but will sing if I give her prompts.  Lately I have been working with her doing improvisational song writing.  We make up a song about anything and she smiles as she sings our simple made up song.  This time we did a song about her baby nephew.  She got the pattern of the song and sang more than I have heard her sing during this intervention.  The most exciting thing was to watch her look at her nephew and she sang with more tenderness than I have ever heard.  This is the first time I have seen her even look at her nephew.  It was a sweet experience to see.