Musical play is a natural and common form of parent-child play, which is an important avenue for supporting social development in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). As a familiar, reinforcing, and predictable activity, musical play may support children’s attention to play activities and provide parents with a familiar and accessible context to promote parental responsiveness. However, musical play may also impede play interactions due to its sensory and repetitive components.
12 parent-child pairs of preschoolers with ASD were video-recorded during a ten-minute play session that included musical and non-musical toys. Play interactions were coded for parent and child musical engagement and parental responsiveness. Parents were similarly responsive to their child’s play across musical and non-musical activities, however, children’s musical engagement impacted the way that parent’s responded to their play. When children were engaged with music or musical activities, parents provided more physical play responses (e.g. playing drums alongside their child) and fewer verbal responses (e.g. commenting on what their child was doing). These results suggest that musical activities may be well suited for some early intervention contexts that require physical responsiveness, such as imitation training. However, when targeting language skills, parents and clinicians should actively structure musical activities to encourage verbal responsiveness as well.