Role and efficacy of music therapy in learning disability: a systematic review

Abstract

Abstract Background Kids with learning disabilities can succeed in school and improve their educational level with the help of a correct rehabilitation program; one of the most effective rehabilitation programs is music therapy. As there was little proof educating us knowledge regarding the function of music treatment in the improvement of learning incapacitated kids in this way, it was imperative to gather these bits of studies in a systematic review study to feature the role of music treatment in the restoration of learning disabilities. The aim of this work is to study the relation between music therapy and learning disabilities, to define the music therapy role and efficacy in the enhancement of learning disabled children to be able to delineate an efficient program therapy later on. This study is a systematic review and was carried out according to the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol. Main text The reviewed included studies were intervention studies that used different groups of cases (learning disabled, dyslexic, or with mathematical problems children) which received the music therapy versus different control groups (normal or dyslexic) receiving normal reading program, cognitive or placebo therapy; also they applied different methods and programs of music therapy. Most of the included studies reported that music therapy is a useful aiding factor in rehabilitation therapy of reading and phonological awareness disorders, however little evidence for positive effectiveness regarding spelling, arithmetic, writing, cognitive abilities, working memory, auditory attention, and rapid auditory processing. Conclusion Music therapy (with or without cognitive therapy) has an important and augmenting role in improving reading skills and phonological awareness problems in dyslexic children but does not replace the current methods of rehabilitation. There is little evidence found that music therapy (with or without cognitive therapy) is an effective aiding factor in rehabilitation therapy regarding spelling, arithmetic, writing, cognitive abilities, working memory, auditory attention, and rapid auditory processing in learning disabled children.

Keywords

• Music therapy
• Learning disability