Investigate the level of effectiveness of music in focusing the special children’s attention

Introduction

The musical stimuli and experience could also create motility rituals or sensory overload and so must be carefully controlled and structured. Music can sometimes hypnotize individuals into lethargy and turn them inward, making them oblivious to their environment. Research has demonstrated that music therapy can have significant positive effects upon behaviors and disorders and can therefore provide a valuable adjunct to available treatment services. It is important to stress, however, the need for a trained and knowledgeable music therapist when using music with this population. Circumstances exist under which music can have harmful effects and, particularly if applied improperly or in a therapeutically inappropriate way, can severely hamper or prevent successful treatment.

 

Main Question

The study seeks to investigate the level of effectiveness of music in focusing the special children’s attention. Specifically, the study seeks to answer the following questions:

1.            What are the links between music and attention?

2.            What are the cognitive rationales for music therapy?

3.            How could teacher use music in applying instruction theories in special education?

4.            How does music affect the cognitive abilities of the children?

5.            What are the reactions of the students in the use of specific kinds of music in the classroom? Specifically in:

a.    Classical Music

b.    Rap Music

c.    Rhythm and Blues (R & B)

d.    Rock and Roll Music

e.    Acoustic Music

Delimitations

The study will use questionnaires and observations in order to obtain pertinent findings for the acquisition of sound conclusions and recommendations.  Music shall be used as a background harmony particularly in the study time and lecture time of the students. Similarly, music will also be used as a medium for lecturing among the students. Musical instruments such as string, wind and percussion instruments shall be utilized during the lecture of teachers. The data for the study shall be gathered from the responses of the teachers and the observation acquired by the researcher. These data shall be consequently analyzed using statistical treatment to quantitatively measure the effect of music in capturing the attention of the students in the respondent class sessions.  Similarly, the study will be bound by a time frame in order to provide a specific and uniform observation in order to obtain valid information. The time frame of the study is illustrated in the latter part of this proposal.

 

 

Limitations

Positive results predominantly results from the use of music in dealing with children with special needs. In recognition of this piece of information, the researcher further discusses the matter on the preceding literature review. Moreover, the researcher should also recognize the existence external influence that might affect the results of the study. Initially, there is the possibility of uncooperativeness among the selected respondents, which may inevitably hinder the time frame of the study. Secondly, there is also the possibility of encountering problems in obtaining secondary data considering the bulk of time needed to collate all the relevant data for the study.

The researcher opted to use the questionnaire as a tool since it is easy to construct having the rules and principles of construction are easy to follow. Moreover, copies of the questionnaire could reach a considerable number of respondents either by mail or by personal distribution. Generally, responses to a questionnaire are objectified and standardized and these make tabulation easy. But more importantly, the respondents’ replies are of their own free will because there is no interviewer to influence them. This is one way to avoid biases, particularly the interviewers’ bias. On the other hand, the questionnaire tool could be blemished by the reality of unreturned copies and unanswered items. Nevertheless, the researcher would make sure that the survey instrument will be simple yet encompassing the thrust of this study.

 

 

Review of Related Literature

Activities and techniques incorporating music stimuli play potentially rich and varied roles in therapy for persons. Music therapy techniques can, for example, facilitate and support the desire to communicate (Thaut, 1984); break patterns of isolation and engage the individual in external experiences (Baker, 1982; Thaut, 1984); reduce echolalic responses impeding functional language use (Bruscia, 1982); decrease stereotyped motility patterns (Scoraci, Deckner, McDaniel, & Blanton, 1982); teach social skills (Reid, Hill, Rawers, & Montegar, 1975); and facilitate increased language comprehension (Litchman, 1976). Nevertheless, no universal rules of therapy can be applied. While one individual may respond positively to a certain technique, another might easily be harmed.

Characteristics of impaired socioemotional functioning can include lack of eye contact, lack of physical responsiveness, aloofness, lack of peer relations, often-obsessive preoccupation with objects, and maintenance of environmental sameness. While these may change in intensity as the individual matures, social aloneness markedly remains (Thaut, 1984). Thaut (1984) further suggests that problems with social relations are also more amenable to initial therapy than are other underlying disorders. Music therapy can provide instead an initial object relation with an instrument. Instead of threatening, the shape, sound and feel of the instrument will often fascinate the individual. The instrument can thus serve as an intermediary between client and therapist, providing an initial point of contact (Thaut, 1984). At the same time, a trained music therapist can structure this experience from the outset in order to minimize motility rituals or sensory overload that may draw the individual back into himself or herself.

Listening experiences can provide additional tactile and visual experience and help to raise awareness of sound and of another person creating that sound. Music and musical experiences can provide infinite kinds of relationships, which can be the key to successful therapy. Alvin (1975), in working with children, was able to draw them slowly outward by using music to develop a series of relationships between the client and the instrument, the client and the therapist's instrument, the client and the music, the client and the therapist's music, the client and therapist, the client and other clients, and so on. Once the barrier has been interrupted and contact established, the music therapist could pursue a variety of structured musical experiences that continue to engage these individuals and draw them further from their internal, ritualistic world. While the process can be slow and arduous, music therapy provides an unusual and pleasurable tool that can be easily adapted to meet the changing needs of the client.  As, the individual progresses, and relationships begin to form music therapy can provide an effective means of teaching social skins as well. Schmidt, Franklin, & Edwards (1976) found music to be highly effective in shaping and reinforcing appropriate, social behaviors. Reid, Hill, Rawer, & Montegar (1975) found music to be instrumental in teaching social skills which, in turn, facilitated the normalization of a child who had previously been isolated from everyday events.

Also significant in music therapy is that all of the musical experiences can be structured for success. Although interactions may be limited by language problems, social relations can become warm and mutually satisfying if the individual learns that he or she can succeed in the adapted, therapeutic environment. Nelson, Anderson, & Gonzales (1984) suggest that, in a sense, the social disability may be the most treatable part of the disorder, especially in the context of music therapy, since it depends more on the quality of the experiences in their environment than on their underlying neuropsychological characteristics.

Music therapy techniques in the area of communication attempt to address speech/vocalization production processes and to stimulate mental processes in respect to conceptualization, symbolization, and comprehension (Thaut, 1984). On the most basic level, the music therapist works to facilitate and support the desire or necessity for communication. Improvised accompaniment to the individual's habitual expressions or behaviors can demonstrate a communicative relationship between a particular musical sound and the client's behavior. Similarly, persons might perceive such sounds more easily or readily than verbal approaches, and awareness of the music and of a relationship between the music and the individual's own actions might serve to motivate communication (Thaut, 1984).

As an individual begins to display communicative (verbal or nonverbal) intentions and responses, music can be used to encourage speech and vocalizations. Alvin (1975) suggests that learning to play wind instruments is in some ways, equivalent to learning to make speech vocalizations. It can also strengthen awareness and functional use of lips, tongue, jaws, and teeth. The use of strong melodic/rhythmic patterns in. verbal instructions has been found to be beneficial in maintaining better attention to and comprehension of the spoken word (Thaut, 1984; Mahlberg, 1973). Nelson et al (1984), in a review of the literature, found reports, of music games being associated with a client's first purposeful speech production. Litchman (1976) found significant increases in language comprehension when music was, used in the learning environment. Alvin (1975) also points out how music can serve as an important link between parent and child, providing a channel of communication and a model of how both parties can relate to each other.

Music therapy has also proved useful in reducing instances of noncommunicative speech patterns, which can impede progress in learning functional language skills. Bruscia (1982) had dramatic results when using music therapy in the assessment and treatment of echolalia. The treatment procedures employed reduced the subjects' echolalia from 95% of total utterances to fewer than 10% in any setting. Consistent throughout much of the literature is also the finding that skills and abilities acquired in the music therapy setting generalize widely across. Moreover, one sees constant manifestations of pathological behavior in the perceptual-motor area. Perceptual and motor disturbances have been linked by a suggested relationship between motor behavior and the faulty processing of sensory input (Thaut, 1984; Nelson, et al., 1984). Characteristics of perceptual disturbances frequently encountered include tactile and kinesthetic receptor preference, hypo- and hypersensitivity to sensory input (i.e., staring, visual and tactile detail scrutiny, covering ears, etc.), preoccupation with isolated sensory impressions, and avoidance of new sensory experience. Motor disturbances are often manifested in delayed gross and fine motor development, poor body awareness/image, self-injury, and motility disturbances (i.e., spinning of self or object, toe walking, rocking, and/or hand flapping). Music therapy techniques are initially aimed at decreasing these behaviors, or breaking these stereotyped motility patterns. Rhythmic activities and movement to music at tempi other than that of body rocking, for instance, can be helpful in this regard (Thaut, 1984). Soraci, Deckner, McDaniel, & Blanton (1982) found that music possessing particular rhythmic characteristics was effective in reducing stereotypic behaviors. When engaged in stereotypes the individual is effectively "tuned out" from attending to events in the environment, but, when stereotypes were reduced or suppressed, the individual could be induced to, engage in productive learning activities. The music therapist can also structure the musical experience to ensure that movement responses to music are adaptive and nonrepetitive in nature (Nelson, et al., 1984).

An individual can begin to exercise perceptual processes, and learn to relate tactile, visual, and auditory stimulation through manual exploration of instruments. Movement to music can also aid in the integration of tactile/kinesthetic and auditory perception and the differentiation of self/nonself (Thaut, 1984). Action songs may be beneficial in helping develop auditory-motor coordination and more refined body awareness/image (Alvin, 1975). Playing with mallets or on a keyboard can practice functional use of fingers and hands. On a more complex level, perceptual learning sequences can first isolate, and then combine, concepts of pitch, loudness, and tempo, by having the client respond in kind on percussion instruments.

From the most basic level to the most complex, music therapy techniques can meet the individual at his or her developmental level, breaking stereotyped behavior patterns and working toward the integration of different sensory experiences and appropriate motor responses.

 

Additional Resources

The primary source of data is the special education instructors and teachers that use music in their class sessions. The secondary sources of data will come from published articles from Education journals, books and related studies on linguistics, reading strategies and institutions dealing with special education.

 

Identifying the Data

The researcher will also tally, score and tabulate all the responses in the provided interview questions. Moreover, the interview shall be using a structured interview. It shall consist of a list of specific questions and the interviewer does not deviate from the list or inject any extra remarks into the interview process. The interviewer may encourage the interviewee to clarify vague statements or to further elaborate on brief comments. Otherwise, the interviewer attempts to be objective and tries not to influence the interviewer's statements. The interviewer does not share his/her own beliefs and opinions. The structured interview is mostly a "question and answer" session.

Implementing Data Collection

Research requires an organized data gathering in order to pinpoint the research philosophies and theories that will be included in the research, the methodology of the research and the instruments of data interpretation. In this study, the Research Process “Onion” will be utilized so that the findings of the study can be thoroughly established. The inner part of the onion describes the methodology portion whereas the outer part discusses the strategies that can be utilized in interpreting the results of the findings.

Time-plan

TASK	Months
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
Select topic
Undertake preliminary literature search
·          Define research questions ·          Write-up aims and objectives
Select appropriate methodology and locate sources of information. Confirm access.
Write-up thesis plan
Undertake and write-up draft critical literature review.
Secondary and Primary Data Detailed ·          Sources ·          Consulted
Research Findings: ·          Analyzed ·          Evaluated ·          Written-up
Discussion: ·          Research findings evaluated and discussed in relation to the literature review
Methodology written-up (including limitations and constraints)
Main body of the report written-up and checked for logical structure
·          Conclusions drawn ·          Recommendations made
Introduction and Executive Summary written-up
Final format and indexing
Print

 

Analyzing the Data

For this research design, the researcher will gather data, collate published studies from different local and foreign universities and articles from business journals; and make a content analysis of the collected documentary and verbal material.  Afterwards, the researcher will summarize all the information, make a conclusion based on the null hypotheses posited and provide insightful recommendations on special education.

 

Plan of Action

The findings of this study shall be forwarded to special education organizations in order to provide them the idea of how music is utilized as a tool for focus and attention for children with special needs. Moreover, the final work shall be forwarded for archiving for future access of students of special education courses.