Understanding awareness of music therapy in parents of children with special needs in India: A survey study

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Music therapy (MT) services for children with special needs in India are limited. Understanding the current level of parental knowledge of music therapy and their willingness to include it in a child’s habilitation program may ascertain the need for parent education and could help to make music therapy feasible and accessible to Indian parents. Hence, a preliminary survey was undertaken to investigate various aspects of parental awareness about music therapy.

Method

Twenty-one item self-report questionnaire was developed and validated. The questionnaire was administered to 80 parents residing in various cities of Maharashtra who had children with special needs who were being administered therapies other than music therapy. The parents had a minimum education of 10th grade with proficiency in English.

Results

Statistical analysis revealed that parents had some level of pre-existing knowledge about music therapy and were willing to include music therapy in their child’s treatment. Parents with higher educational levels and annual family income were significantly more aware of the term music therapy. Parents who had heard of music therapy were more likely to include music therapy in their child’s habilitation. Motivations that drew parents’ willingness have been described in detail.

Discussion

Parents of children with special needs in urban parts of Maharashtra are positively inclined towards music therapy. They are willing to include music therapy in their child’s habilitation provided the structure of these services to complement their needs. Nevertheless, there remains a need for increasing awareness about the versatility and the scope of music therapy.

KEYWORDS:

• Music therapy
• parents
• awareness
• special needs

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was received for this study.

Notes on contributors

Rasika Rajiv Karulkar

Rasika Rajiv Karulkar, MASLP is a qualified audiologist and speech-language pathologist, experienced in working with children who have special needs. She is a trained Hindustani classical vocalist and has completed a certificate program on“Fundamentals of Music Therapy” from Chennai School of Music Therapy.

Dhanshree R. Gunjawate

Dr. Dhanshree R. Gunjawate is a practicing audiologist and speech-language pathologist. She is involved in teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students. She has vast research experience and publications in several reputed high-impact journals to her credit.

Sumathy Sundar

Dr. Sumathy Sundar is the founder-director of Chennai School of Music Therapy based in India. She is a fellow of the IMC University of Applied Sciences, Austria. She was the former Professor and Director, Center for Music Therapy Education and Research, Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth University, Pondicherry.