Nurazura Bte Mohamed Amran (Group A)

CASE STUDY 2:

Area of intervention:
Communication and social skills: To enhance Kim’s communication and social skills so as to minimise disruptive behaviour in class.

(i)The intervention: Music in cooperative learning

Children with mild intellectual disability have difficulties in reading social cues, in exhibiting appropriate turn-taking during conversations, or in engaging reciprocal interactions (Lim & Quah, 2004, p. 329). As a result of not being able to understand others, Kim displays inappropriate/ disruptive behaviours in class as mentioned in the case study.

A study was conducted by Duffy & Fuller (2000) to enhance the communication and social skills of children with mild intellectual disability through the use of music in cooperative learning.

There were five social skills targeted for the intervention: turn-taking, imitation, vocalization, initiation and eye contact.

1. Turn-Taking: This refers to an event involving a sequence of turns to play alternating between the child and the therapist (using jumping frog game).

2. Imitation: This refers to the state where the child spontaneously tries to follow the manner, style, or character of the therapist’s playing, or what the therapist does while engaged in interaction (using the basic OXO magnet board)

3. Vocalization: This refers to an event where the child spontaneously initiates interaction with the therapist, or initiates a change and expects the therapist to follow (through reading a picture book)

4. Initiation of Interaction: This refers to the child’s behaviour in response to the therapist’s initiation of interaction.

5. Eye Contact: This refers to an event where a child looks at the therapist while playing, manipulating, holding, touching toys / instruments, or being engaged with the therapist in any way.

(ii) its effectiveness

According to Duffy and Fuller (2000), “music therapy has been reported to be beneficial in the development of communication and social skills of children with mild intellectual disability (Bunt 1978; Humpal 1991)”. They found that the use of music in the area of intellectual disability is successful to:
· teach self-help skills, recreation skills and social
· increase the capacity of the person with intellectual disability to interact with peers and/or staff.

The article also mentioned that results of music intervention increase the “development of imitation skills, increasing anticipation and providing enjoyment” (Duffy & Fuller, 2000, p.9). It was seen that children with mild intellectual disability begins to turn taking during conversation and relate better to social cues. As a result, there is a decrease in displaying inappropriate / disruptive behaviours by children with mild intellectual disability. Besides, the article mentioned that the programme was equally effective with children who had been returned from special classes to mainstream placement and those who had never attended special classes.

(iii) your personal evaluation how the child will benefit from this intervention

I feel that Kim will benefit from this programme as it develops on her social skills towards her peers. Kim can learn how to communicate and interact with her peers through a fun and enjoying lessons – through music. Besides social skills, music also helps to enhance and facilitate Kim’s speech and language development. Moreover, the activities done in the intervention are seen as a hands-on experience where Kim can explore with her senses. Lastly, research has shown that music programme do significantly help to increase in academic performance as well as promote friendship between students with and without disabilities.

(iv) your suggestions how you can make adjustments to cater to the needs of the child and to facilitate integration of the child / the intervention activity into your classroom.

I feel that music element is a must when planning lessons plans. One suggestion I would like to make is to have music integrated into the curriculum. As Kim is 7 years old, she would be in primary one and as we know that primary school usually focus on academic teaching. Thus, it would be a great improvement if teachers can add music as part of their teaching methods in lessons. Thus, incorporating music in daily lesson can be beneficial to all children and cooperative between peers can also be encouraged. Also, whenever Kim displayed tiredness and signs of distraction, I can use music to help her refocus and redirect her back to the lesson. I can also pair her up with peers to explore music together. In this way, she can learn and imitate social cues from her friends as well.

Reference:
Duffy, B., & Fuller, R. (2000). The role of music therapy in social skills development in children with moderate intellectual disability. Retrieved August 28, 2009, from http://web.ebscohost.com.libwww3.np.edu.sg/ehost/pdf?vid=10&hid=104&sid=2547d404-cc75-4653-8043-0259a7b5974a%40sessionmgr111

Lim, L., & Quah, M. M. (2004). Educating learners with diverse abilities (1st ed.). Singapore: McGraw-Hill Education.

Other reading:

Jackson, R. (2007). Music activities initiated by staff within services for people with intellectual disability. Retrieved, September 2, 2009, from http://web.ebscohost.com.libwww3.np.edu.sg/ehost/pdf?vid=7&hid=3&sid=87a92fef-d9c9-435b-ab11-dcc43556ba6b%40sessionmgr111