The Effect of Background Music on the Level of Independence in Students with Autism

Abstract

The premise of this study was to investigate the effect of music being played, on the level of independence children with Autism demonstrate as they work in the classroom. The participants in the study were a group of ten students in third through fifth grades in a public school, who are all diagnosed with Autism and receiving special education services. The data was collected on a daily basis by indicating the level of prompt each student needed as they completed daily work at their desks, while listening to classical music. Over a period of one school month results showed that there was no significant difference between the level of independence of students with Autism during their designated work time, and music played in the background. Playing classical music did not have an impact on helping students with Autism work independently.