I am working on my applied project for my graduate program in ABA and intend to use music to strengthen/establish echoics in pre-schoolers with autism spectrum disorders.
You can use a word imitation program without music, starting from words that are easy for children to read, everyday words that children use, for example, open, close, want, yes, no, mama, papa, eat, drink, bathe, etc. If there is a problem, use shaping. If the child can imitate the words, then continue by labeling them. For example, children can imitate the words mom, dad, and other people, followed by labeling photos of mom, dad, and other people. Likewise, if the child has imitated the vowel letter A, continue by reading the letter A card, then imitate O, U, E, I. Every time the child masters 1 vowel letter, continue by reading the vowel card and carrying out A vs O Discrimination Training, maintenance, and so on. So children can teach various abilities to ASD children. Good luck
Hopefully, this can help you. You can discuss this with me via email [email protected]
Hi,
Here are a few scientific articles on this topic:
Lim HA, Draper E. The effects of music therapy incorporated with applied behavior analysis verbal behavior approach for children with autism spectrum disorders. J Music Ther. 2011 Winter;48(4):532-50. doi: 10.1093/jmt/48.4.532. PMID: 22506303.
Geretsegger M, Fusar-Poli L, Elefant C, Mössler KA, Vitale G, Gold C. Music therapy for autistic people. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022 May 9;5(5):CD004381. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD004381.pub4. PMID: 35532041; PMCID: PMC9082683.
Geipel J, Koenig J, Hillecke TK, Resch F, Kaess M. Music-based interventions to reduce internalizing symptoms in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis. J Affect Disord. 2018 Jan 1;225:647-656. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2017.08.035. Epub 2017 Sep 1. PMID: 28889050.
Applewhite B, Cankaya Z, Heiderscheit A, Himmerich H. A Systematic Review of Scientific Studies on the Effects of Music in People with or at Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Apr 23;19(9):5150. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19095150. PMID: 35564544; PMCID: PMC9100336.
Songs with a call and response feature can be great for working on echoics, assuming the response mimics the calls. Music/songs can be excellent vehicles to work on intraverbal and manding skills as well. Pausing at a familiar refrain for a fill-in-the-blank opportunity can also help to encourage unprompted language production. I know that's not all specific to echoics but music just offers so many darn options to work on language!