Sometime you want something to be true but it just isn’t. We see that all the time. Parents that believe that by avoiding vaccinations, they can save their children from autism. Too many studies around the world have demonstrated that vaccines don’t cause autism.
Now we have a study that shows music therapy does not help autism. Wouldn’t that have been nice if it had? Simple. Painless. Cheap. Too good to be true.
Children with autism ages 4-7 were enrolled from 2011 to 2015 and followed for at least a year. They were assigned to a control (no change), once weekly music therapy or high intensity therapy involving sessions three times per week. Data was collected based on the child’s social responsiveness and the quality of life for the child and family. No significant difference was found between any of the groups. Everyone was disappointed.
The researchers pointed out that children that do music therapy may experience outcomes not studied so the therapy could not be completely discounted. I’d like that to be true but who knows…
Dr.Badaracco
