The Effects of an Integrated Early Childhood Music Program on Social Interaction Among Children with Handicaps and Their Typical Peer+*

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an integrated early childhood music program on social interac don among children with handicaps and their typical peers. A field test was conducted with 15 students (age 4) from a typical preschcol, and 12 students (ages 3 to 5) with mod erate levels of mental retardation from a county develop mental center. The children came together once weekly at the typical preschool for integrated music sessions. For 15 sessions following the pretests, the music therapist employed specific strategies to foster interaction. A trend analysis in dicated that interaction among the children increased follow ing the music therapy intervention phase. A questionnaire was submitted to the five staff members involved with the project; all agreed that the program had facilitated peer in teraction and had fostered acceptance of differences among individuals. The passage of Public Law 99-457 (Education for All Hand icapped Children Act Amendments, 1986) mandates that hand icapped preschool children receive appropriate educational ser vices in the least restrictive environment. The idea of Marcia Humpal, M.Ed., RMT-BC, is a music therapist with the Cuyahog