Intellectual disability or in other words, mental retardation in children maybe genetic, caused by environmental toxins and illnesses during the mothers’ pregnancy or otherwise acquired later in life. Children with intellectual deficits such as cere...
Intellectual disability or in other words, mental retardation in children maybe genetic, caused by environmental toxins and illnesses during the mothers’ pregnancy or otherwise acquired later in life. Children with intellectual deficits such as cerebral palsy, mental retardation and autism often experience trouble forming relationships with other. Given their difficulty in interacting with their peers, the fact that the number of mentally retarded children are steadily increasing nowadays raises our concern.
This study observed the effect of classical music on children with intellectual disabilities in need of special education. The study was done on three mentally retarded children at P Elementary School for four weeks, beginning from September fifth to the thirtieth, 2011. These students were presented with seventeen classical music pieces that have been recognized to decrease stress, anxiety and impulsiveness and increase concentration and emotional stability. Before the experiment, the subjects were pre-tested for their social interaction and selective attention. In addition, to ensure the objectivity of the data, the subject’s special education teacher, homeroom teacher and their parents completed the Korea-Child Behavior Checklist (K-CBCL). After the pre-test, the subjects listened to classical music five times a week, for four weeks, total of seventeen periods. Their social interaction and selective attention were measured each time. Also, the study measured whether there was a change in problematic behavior of the subjects according to the K-CBCL. The results of the experiment indicated that classical music has positive effects on both social interaction and selective attention of children with intellectual disabilities in need of special education. To begin with, children who listened to classical music showed and their improvement in social interaction. Social interactions such as eye contact, imitation and response between the students and their teachers altogether increased from 3.2 to 6.5 for all three students. Secondly, this study has shown that classical music increases children’s selective attention. According to the experiment results, the average selective attention span of the children increased to 12.7 minutes after listening to classical music, which is two times longer than the former 6.8 minutes.
Finally, according to the K-CBCL, problematic behavior of the subjects decreased after they listened to classical music. Given these evidences, I have concluded that listening to classical music increases social interaction and selective attention but decreases problematic behaviors of children with intellectual disabilities who are receiving special education.