Interactive Music with Children and Youths with Severe or Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities : Preliminary findings from a Systematic Literature Review

Introduction: It has been proposed that interactive music and music therapy not only develops musical abilities but also more general developmental abilities such as social and communicative abilities in children and youths with intellectual disabilities. However, previous research on music with children with disabilities is rather scarce, particularly when it comes to children with severe or profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Method: The aim of the current study is to identify and systematically review research on interactive music with children and youths with severe or profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (S/PIMD) in peer-reviewed articles written in English during the years 2000-2020. Research questions focuses on participant characteristics; research purposes, methodologies, findings and effectiveness of interventions. The searches in the databases will be performed through various combinations of search terms. Given the heterogeneity of the included studies’ methods and data, the included studies will be summarized using text and tables to compare and contrast findings across studies. The quality of the evidence (risk of bias) will be assessed. Discussion/Conclusions: Preliminary findings will be presented which may reveal implications for practice and research concerning effectiveness of interactive music interventions and research designs together with children with S/PIMD. It will potentially contribute to the evidence based knowledge of how to support development and education for the target group.Forskarskola i Specialpedagogi