Sound Therapy: An Experimental Study with Autistic Children

AbstractObjectiveThe effect of the Tomatis sound therapy method on the reduction of autistic symptoms in children with autism was studied.Method34 autistic children (aged 4-8 years) were selected from a rehabilitation centre in Tehran and then assigned randomly to two equal-sized experimental and control groups. The experimental group received sound therapy for 30 sessions of 120minutes. The GARS was administered as the pre- and post-test, before and after the treatment. Meanwhile, the sound therapy profile was used as a basic tool for the remediation plan.ResultsANCOVA analysis showed that there were significant differences among mean scores of autistic symptoms in the 2 groups.Conclusionthis research showed that the Tomatis method can reduce autistic symptoms, increase social interaction, communication, and reduce stereotypical movements, and can be used as an effective treatment for autistic children