Turn-Taking in Music Therapy with Children with Communication Disorders

Abstract

In a well-functioning dialogue, the nonverbal and often implicit visual and auditory cues ensure good continuation without interruptions or overlapping speak. In mutual interplay, both partners participate in turn-organisation, and therefore an analysis of cues indicating turn-taking and turn-yielding can provide information about the participants' social skills, whether or not the dialogue is verbal. This article presents relevant concepts from conversation analysis literature in order to analyse music therapy interplay aimed at promoting preverbal and social skills. As the character of the turn-organisation is dependent on the developmental age of the participants, the described cues are compared to research in early mother–child interplay, as well as studies of turn-organisation in dialogues with disabled children. The theoretical part of the article is illustrated by a turn-analysis of case material from music therapy with a 2½-year-old boy with communication disorders. The analysis was a part of the author's doctoral research and focuses on the boy's participation in turn-organisation as well as the therapist's use of turn-yielding and turn-overlapping. The article concludes with a discussion of the applied theoretical concepts in relation to music therapy practice. It will be suggested that the turn-yielding cues can be compared to response-evoking techniques, while the management of simultaneousness (overlaps) naturally is very different in verbal than in musical dialogues.

The Effects of Improvisational Music Therapy on Joint Attention Behaviors in Autistic Children: A Randomized Controlled Study

“…Therefore, the result provided some evidence that the therapists were able to follow the direction of treatment protocol. Holck (2004b) pointed out that musical turn-taking often consisted of imitation and variation. In this study, initially it was the therapist who imitated what the participant did in order to build empathic mutuality of interaction with the participant.…”

“…Holck (2002) suggested that music therapists use 'response evoking techniques' that involve creating mutually meaningful and enjoyable musical interaction themes in relation to the child's expression and focus of attention. These offer the potential for drawing the child's attention towards joint musical engagement.…”

Family‐centred music therapy to promote social engagement in young children with severe autism spectrum disorder: a randomized controlled study

“…Music therapy has a long history of use as an intervention for children with ASD, particularly with those who have severe difficulties with social engagement (Reschke‐Hernandez ). Music therapy with children with ASD has been influenced by diverse learning theories from discrete trial training (Lim & Draper ) to relationship‐based approaches (Holck ). Music therapists adopting a relationship‐based approach typically use flexible improvisation methods to create opportunities for reciprocal interactions, affect sharing, turn taking and joint attention within live music making (Geretsegger et al .…”

A joint behavioral and emotive analysis of synchrony in music therapy of children with autism spectrum disorders

“…Music therapists can use "response evoking techniques" that create mutually meaningful and enjoy- 168 health psychology report able musical interaction themes in relation to the child's expression and focus of attention (Holck, 2002). By involving the child without requesting an immediate specific response, the therapist creates the opportunity to accept the rhythmic and melodic meanings tuned to his behavior.…”

“…It is a child-centered approach that utilizes mainly non-verbal musical interaction and thus is comparable with early reciprocal interaction between mother and infant (Hughes, 1995;Holck, 2004aHolck, , 2004bPavlicevic, 1997;Robarts, 1996;Trolldalen, 2005). As an intervention procedure, IMT makes use of the potential for social engagement and expression of emotions occurring through improvisational music making (Geretsegger, Holck, & Gold, 2012;Geretsegger, Elefant, Mòssler, & Gold, 2014).…”