The Impact of Listening to Preferred Music on Behavior for Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities often struggle to stay in their seats during time allocated for independent work. Students who do not pay attention during class time may require additional instruction and suffer academically. The use of music can create a classroom setting that allows teachers to capture interest and attention when learning new course content. This study implemented a multiple baseline line across participants design with four participants to measure the changes of in seat behavior from baseline where no music is being used to intervention where music is being used. The four students with disabilities used headphones to listen to preferred music during time allocated for independent work. Results across participants demonstrated an increase of in seat behavior with the use of music. This indicates that students with disabilities may be likely to stay in their seats with the use of headphones listening to preferred music during time allocated for independent work