Music therapy in working with children with autistic spectrum disorder

Autizam je kompleksni neurološki poremećaj u razvoju koji utječe na sposobnosti verbalne i neverbalne komunikacije, ponašanje i otežava socijalne interakcije, a pojavljuje se u vrlo ranoj dječjoj dobi. Iako je u ljudskoj povijesti postojao i mnogo ranije, počeo se istraživati i imenovan je tek početkom 20. stoljeća. Do današnjih dana i unatoč brojnim istraživanjima na neurološkom i biološkom polju koja su rezultirala jedino različitim pretpostavkama, uzrok poremećaja nije otkriven te se njegovo dijagnosticiranje oslanja na grupu simptoma koji se pojavljuju kod djece s autizmom. Ta grupa simptoma naziva se autističnim spektrom, pomoću kojega razlikujemo poremećaj autizma od drugih razvojnih poremećaja. U sklopu raznih oblika liječenja, ublažavanja simptoma autizma i terapija, sve se više koristi muzikoterapija kao pomoćna disciplina. Ona koristi glazbu i njezine elemente kako bi utjecala na djetetov cjelokupan razvoj i poboljšanje socijalnih i komunikacijskih vještina, a provodi se uz pomoć i nadzor muzikoterapeuta. Cilj rada je prikazati mogućnosti muzikoterapije i načine na koje ona može pozitivno utjecati na njih u različitim područjima razvoja. Tijekom istraživanja teme i literarne građe, pronađena su i prikazana dva modela muzikoterapije koja svojim obilježjima i pristupima odgovaraju terapeutskim zahtjevima rada s djecom s poremećajima autističnog spektra. To su Nordoff-Robbins i Alvin model. Pokazalo se da spomenuti modeli uvelike pomažu djeci s autizmom, posebno na području komunikacije, pružajući im tako mogućnost boljeg povezivanja s okolinom i samim time, kvalitetnijeg života.Autism is a complex neurological development disorder that affects the ability of verbal and nonverbal communication, behavior, complicates social interaction and occurs very early in the childhood. Although in human history this disorder existed much earlier, it began to be investigated and named only in the early 20th century. To this date, and in spite of numerous neurological and biological field studies that have resulted in only different assumptions, the cause of the disorder has not been revealed and its diagnosis relies on a group of symptoms that occur in children with autism. That group of symptoms is called an autistic spectrum, which helps us differentiate autism disorders from other developmental disorders. As part of various forms of treatment, mitigating the symptoms of autism and therapy, music therapy is increasingly used as auxiliary discipline. It uses music and its elements to influence the child's overall development and improvement of social and communication skills, and is performed with the help and supervision of a music therapist. The aim of the paper is to present the possibilities of music therapy and the ways in which it can positively affect children with autism in different areas of development. During the research of the topic and literary material, two models of music therapy have been found and presented with their features and approaches to meet the therapeutic demands of work with children with autism spectrum disorders. Those are NordoffRobbins and Alvin model. It has been shown that the mentioned models greatly help children with autism, especially in the communication field, offering them a possibility of better connection with their surroundings and consequently, improving their overall quality of life