The effectiveness of music therapy in autism spectrum disorder: a literature review

This work includes a review of the literature on music therapy interventions with people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASO) in order to analyse the degree of effectiveness of these interventions. To conduct this review, a literature search of the relevant databases was performed and, with the inclusion criteria defined, a total of 18 studies were analysed. In 11 of the 18 interventions, statistically significant improvements were obtained, while in the remaining 7 interventions, the improvement did not reach statistical significance, or there was a limitation to the intervention effectiveness in follow-up evaluations. Considering these results, we conclude that music therapy may become a promising practice for improving the communication and social interaction of people with ASD. However, a greater volume of research is still needed to clarify the type of interventions and the areas of the autism spectrum disorder in which these interventions are actually effective.