From its inception in the early 1960's, Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy has become a significant presence in the music therapy world, with hundreds of certified practitioners and six training/research centers worldwide. The research staff at our Center has pioneered the development and application of research methods to study creative and developmental processes in music therapy.
Researchers work closely with therapists in analyzing music therapy sessions to better understand the processes that make this work effective. This work has generated numerous scholarly publications and clinical training videotapes. Researchers, doctoral candidates, and master's students in the music therapy program, and more recently, the applied psychology program, have undertaken a wide range of research projects based on the study of archived video recordings of clinical sessions.
After being awarded the 2007 Steinhardt Art and Culture Grant for the project: "Understanding How Music Can Change Lives: Developing Outcomes Research Competency at the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy," the Center has greatly expanded its research program. The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales - 2nd Edition (Vineland-II), which rates behaviors in the domains of communication, daily living skills, socialization, and motor skills, was administered to participants at the beginning and the end of the 2007-08 academic year to explore the possible effects of music therapy on children with autism spectrum disorders. In addition, we developed an original instrument, the Music Therapy Communication and Social Interaction (MTCSI) scale (Hummel-Rossi, Turry, et al., 2008), for rating behaviors related to communication and social interaction as observed within music therapy sessions.
The MTCSI was devised by an interdisciplinary panel, consisting of applied psychologists and Nordoff-Robbins music therapists, which met weekly to analyze archived videotape of music therapy sessions, identifying observable behaviors related to communication and social interaction. The MTCSI codes such behaviors as instrument use, vocalization, gesture, movement, eye contact, facial expression, parallel play, joint attention, turn taking, and other indicators of a child's response to or initiation of communication and interaction. The scale is designed to be used by trained observers from various disciplines, including psychologists, social workers, special educators, creative arts therapists, and speech, occupational and physical therapists.
The Vineland and the MTCSI are being administered in a new field study begun in the fall of 2008 at These Our Treasures School (TOTS) in the Bronx, an Early Intervention and preschool site with special instruction and related services. A Nordoff-Robbins music therapy program has been in place at TOTS for many years. Approximately 35 children aged 2-5, most of whom are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders, are enrolled in the study. A lagged experimental/control group design is being implemented, in which half of the children receive music therapy in the fall semester, and half in the spring semester.
Both the Parent/Caregiver Rating Form and the Teacher Rating Form of the Vineland-II will be administered at TOTS at the beginning, middle and end of each semester. The MTCSI will be used to rate music therapy sessions videotaped at the beginning, middle and end of each semester. It is hoped that this work will establish the reliability and validity of the MTCSI, and clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of music therapy for children on the autism spectrum.