Monthly Archives: January 2021

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180914084829.htm

According to a research project led by the University of Chichester and University Centre Hartpury, drumming for 60 minutes a week could benefit those diagnosed with autism. The research method involved students from the Milestone School in Gloucester partaking in a 10-week drumming session. During the course of those 10 weeks, the students were found to show improvements in rhythm and timing. In addition to drumming-related skills, the students also showed improvements at school and at home. For example, there was an improvement in the students’ behavior at school, an enhancement in their communication skills, a boost in motor control, and an increase in attention span when doing homework. This article was extremely informative. However, I still have some questions I want to address. For example, drum therapy comes in many forms (there are so many types of drums and so many different genres of music to play); is there a particular form of drum therapy that is more useful than others when it comes to treating autism? Another question I have is related to the time of 60 minutes; why is 60 minutes a week the optimal time for drum therapy? Why can’t it be more or less?

Drum Therapy for Autism | Autism Key

I read an article by Susan Moffitt, a mother of a (then) 15 year-old child diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a milder form of autism. Moffitt discussed how hitting a drum helped her child calm down from a tantrum instantly. In addition to helping her child cope with emotional meltdowns, Moffitt stated that drumming also helped his motor coordination skills and communication skills. In terms of motor coordination skills, drumming was beneficial to her son as it trained his vestibular movement and visual perception skills. In terms of communication skills, drumming was equally as beneficial as it was a task that involved turn taking, listening, problem solving, and following directions. I believe that this article was a testimony of how drumming could help those with autism. In the future, I want to be the one to use drumming as a tool to transform those with autism, similar to how drumming transformed Susan Moffitt’s son.

Autism Spectrum Disorder: Autistic Brains vs Non-Autistic Brains (psycom.net)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-018-0287-3

Sounds and the Spectrum: The Benefits of Music for Autistic Children – Percussion Play

The structure of the brain of someone with autism differs from that of someone without autism. Perhaps the most striking difference is that some regions of the autistic brain are not as strongly connected, causing those with autism to often struggle with tasks that require the simultaneous functioning of multiple parts of the brain (ie: communication.) A study shows that playing musical instruments helps strengthen those connections of the brain, which in turn can improve communication skills. I believe that the reason why drumming stimulates the connections within the brain is because drumming requires so many different skills, such as visual and auditory perception, following directions, and the coordination of the left and right hands.