Bara, one of our Music Therapists, works one-on-one with David*, a non speaking 12 year old with complex autism, pathological demand avoidance (PDA) and intermittent explosive disorder (IED).

David attends school in his own dedicated classroom, as when dysregulated, he experiences high arousal and struggles with self harm to himself and others. Although staff in his school have reported that he is much happier in his own room, they are actively working to offer David a varied range of learning opportunities and social interactions. To support this, David was referred for music therapy to support his emotional regulation and anti-social tendencies. 

During David’s assessment, his team mentioned his need for physical space around him and his sensitivities to unexpected sounds, sensory input, and people within his environment. Overall, their main goal for David is to develop his tolerance for others for short periods of time, and to begin to calmly ask them to leave instead of using hitting or other forms of aggression when feeling dysregulated. 

Upon meeting David, Bara began their first session with a quiet welcome song, alongside the sound of maracca, which have been consistent with each time she enters his space. David has shown great response to the gentle songs which often revolve around describing his movement, the therapist’s intentions and being grounded in the present moment. 

What initially began as receptive music therapy sessions with minimal interaction from David have gradually developed into a playful time where he may show his understanding of turn taking, through tapping and copying rhythms, asking for Bara’s maracca, returning into their hands and/or holding the maracca together to play.

Music Therapy plays an influential role in the development of David’s frustration tolerance through exposure therapy. The duration of time he can tolerate people in his space is increasing consistently, and he is now demonstrating safer  methods of  advocating for space and /or alone time. These outcomes, in the future, may offer David the space for new learning opportunities through interaction with others for longer periods of time. 

‍

*please note we have changed the name and image to protect the child identity