Music Therapy with Autistic Children: Creating an Intersubjective Field of Play through Improvisation

ABSTRACT

This article considers the value of improvisational music therapy in cultivating intersubjective states between autistic clients and therapists. The authors first describe the potential therapeutic resources in live and individually-tailored musical experiences for autistic people, followed by a theoretical explanation of music and intersubjectivity. Finally, four music therapy cases from The Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at NYU highlight various perspectives about music therapy and intersubjectivity with autistic children. Video excerpts of sessions are included.

KEYWORDS:

• Music
• music therapy
• Nordoff-Robbins
• improvisation
• autism
• intersubjectivity
• case study

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary Material

Supplemental videos for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jacqueline C. Birnbaum

Jacqueline C. Birnbaum, MSEd, MA, LCAT, MT-BC, Level III Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapist, is Administrative Coordinator and Senior Clinician at the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at New York University. She began her music therapy work in the 1980s in schools for children with communication and other challenges, developing and implementing music therapy programs. She is a pianist, guitarist, violinist, composer of published songs for therapy, and has presented internationally on the use of Creative Music Therapy. Jacqueline has served as Chair of the Certification Board for Music Therapists and currently is on the editorial board of the journal Music Therapy Perspectives. Among her publications are an e-book that includes video examples of her clinical work with a traumatized child, and Using Music in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, a book coauthored with Laura Beer.

Zachary Kandler

Zachary Kandler, MA, LCAT, MT-BC, received his master’s degree in music therapy from New York University. Since 2011, he has worked as a music therapist at Rebecca School in New York City, a therapeutic day school for neurodiverse children and adolescents. He earned his Level I and Level II certifications in Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and is a member of the clinical staff at the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at NYU. Zachary is also a training leader in DIRFloortime® through the Interdisciplinary Council on Development and Learning (ICDL) and an adjunct faculty member in the music therapy programs at NYU and Montclair State University.

Mariana Aslan

Mariana Aslan, MM, MA, LCAT, MT-BC, is a certified Nordoff-Robbins music therapist. She works as a clinician and clinical supervisor both at the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at NYU and at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. Mariana has worked in public schools, hospitals (specializing in NICU work), and nursing homes, and has presented and taught internationally and in the United States.

Jenny Hoi Yan Fu

Jenny Hoi Yan Fu, MA, LCAT, MT-BC, is a music therapist in New York City. She is a certified Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapist (Level II) and works as a clinician and supervisor at the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at NYU. She is also a certified Austin Vocal Psychotherapist and is training under Dr. Diane Austin as a trainer in the Vocal Psychotherapy method. Jenny developed the early intervention and preschool music therapy program for deaf and hard-of-hearing children at the Auditory Oral School of New York and is currently in private practice at New York Creative Arts Therapists, specializing in developmental trauma. She is an adjunct faculty member in the music therapy programs at NYU and State University of New York at Fredonia.

Alan Turry

Alan Turry, DA, LCAT, MT-BC, is Managing Director of the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at New York University and is responsible for the Center’s overall administration, clinical services, and research programs. He teaches clinical improvisation in the NYU Steinhardt master’s program and runs workshops and lectures internationally, highlighting the power of spontaneous music making for people with various challenges. Alan is recognized for his innovative contributions to the Nordoff-Robbins approach, including incorporating contemporary music styles into clinical training and practice, using instrumental and song improvisation in group music therapy, and integrating music psychotherapy and community music therapy. Alan’s pioneering doctoral research linked elements of music with the specific verbal-lyrical content of improvised songs. He has authored several chapters, among them “Transference and Countertransference in Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy” and “Supervision in the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Training Program.”