Purposes of the Study
The study “An Investigation of a Classroom-Based Specialized Music Therapy Model for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Voices Together Using the VOICSS™ Method” outlines several purposes. The first one includes utilizing the DUACS to assess the outcomes of music therapy in autistic children. Related to it is the desire to study the ability of the autistic brain to compensate for the issues that it has in other areas. Another vital purpose is to evaluate the effectiveness of the VOICSS therapy method in teaching children socio-emotional skills. Finally, the researchers relish teaching said skills to children in a comfortable environment.
Research Questions
The study seeks to answer four research questions that may inform future and current narratives regarding the students’ socio-emotional learning skills. First, they intend to determine the heterogeneity of students used as a baseline for the study. Second, the study will evaluate and determine whether students perform and improve at different or the same speed. Third, it will underline any significant differences from the baseline regarding various demographic variables. Finally, the teacher-reported behavior variables will be examined to spot any differences identified by the teachers (Schmid et al., 2020).
Participants and Setting
The study takes place in an elementary school setting and involves 64 participants. All of them are ages 5 to 11, encompassing different age groups and stages of development. Nearly all participants were diagnosed with ASD, which made them eligible to participate in the study.
The remaining few did not serve as a control group for the study. To ensure the heterogeneity of the sampling pool even further, the participants included individuals from various age groups, ranging from kindergarteners to 5th graders. The 4:1 male-to-female ratio is congruent with the previous findings of various studies, showing that males are 4 times as likely to develop autism when compared to females (Schmid et al., 2020).
Methods
The study methods outlined in the article state that each participant was exposed to the treatment and assessment activities within their respective classroom. The primary intervention was VT music therapy every week for 16 weeks. Before the therapy started, the researchers spent 6 weeks administering questionnaires to develop the pre-intervention baseline.
The intervention followed soon after. To collect data about the intervention and measure its effects, the participants were asked to answer prompts, which were coded and video-recorded for further analysis. In addition, self-reporting items were collected from individual teachers who have observed the students (Schmid et al., 2020).
Analysis
The chosen analysis method in this research was MLM (multi-level modeling). This method is considered superior to ANOVA in this particular setup for several reasons. The first one concerns DUACS measures already being implemented by students. It accounts for within-subject dependence missing data and does not require sphericity.
Finally, it appears to yield higher and more accurate statistical power. The method allows for simultaneously testing intra- and inter-individual relationships, enabling the researchers to measure both within the same framework and significantly simplify the process. Three models were analyzed regarding time, age, gender, language level, and pre- and post-measures (Schmid et al., 2020).
Results
Significant results were available for the discussion about what was being measured. The primary variable for Model 1 was time, and it was discovered that individuals undergoing interventions were a very heterogeneous group from the start, having variable degrees of communication. That was important to establish, as it later explained the different levels of progress and the DUACS score.
The second model indicated that individuals with higher starting language levels had a higher DUACS score throughout the intervention. It showed how language aptitude served as a compensatory mechanism. Model 3 added higher empathy as another prerequisite for a higher DUACS score (Schmid et al., 2020).
Implications of the Study
The study has some broad implications for the entirety of the educational field for individuals with ASD. It showed that language and empathy are some of the strongest predictors regarding the DUACS score, which in turn can be used to predict progress and the capacity to learn and improve. A higher DUACS score is associated with greater compensatory mechanisms. Indeed, children who fit the criteria could answer most, if not all, questions accordingly, whereas those with lower DUACS scores showed less improvement over the 16 weeks. Likewise, fixed determinants, such as gender, grade, and age, showed little to no effect on DUACS scores (Schmid et al., 2020).
Impact on Student Learning
The study has a transformative impact on student learning. First, despite it not being the initial purpose of the study, it appears that DUACS is a better tool to measure progress and success likelihood in social and psycho-emotive spectrums when compared to the currently used RCT, which does not fully meet the needs of children with ASD. Second, it indicates that future programs to help individuals with ASD improve in these areas must focus on language mastery and empathy. As the study shows, advances in both parameters will result in higher DUACS scores and better overall motivation and progress (Schmid et al., 2020).
Reference
Schmid, L., DeMoss, L., Scarbrough, P., Ripple, C., White, Y., & Dawson, G. (2020). An investigation of a classroom-based specialized music therapy model for children with autism spectrum disorder: Voices together using the VOICSS™ method. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 35(3), 1- 10. Web.