Online ISSN: 2325-7466
2006
Triannual
National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET)
United States

Articles

Evaluation of the Rhythmic Arts Project, a Multi-Modal Rhythm-Based Perception and Action Intervention, in a School-Based Setting in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Beth A. Smith, PT, PhD, Eddie Tuduri, Emily Mostovoy, Denise Pannell, M.S., Chris Landon, MD, FAAP, FCCP, CMD
  • Beth A. Smith, PT, PhD (Author) University of Southern California image/svg+xml
    Beth A. Smith, PT, PhD, received her physical therapy degree from Boston University and worked as a clinician at University of Michigan Hospital before returning to school to pursue a PhD in the Developmental Neuromotor Control Laboratory in the School of Kinesiology at the University of Michigan, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in the Balance Disorders Laboratory in the Department of Neurology at Oregon Health & Science University. Beth is currently Assistant Professor of Research in the Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy at the University of Southern California, where she is the director of the Infant Neuromotor Control Laboratory.
  • Eddie Tuduri (Author) The Rhythmic Arts Project
    Eddie Tuduri is the founder and director of The Rhythmic Arts Project. In 1990, The U.S. Committee for Unicef named Eddie volunteer of the year. In 1998. Eddie was voted Local Hero by the Santa Barbara Independent and presented with The Volunteer of the Year award by The Rehabilitation Institute at Santa Barbara. In April 2002 Eddie received the Citation Award for Therapeutic Recreation. In 2005, The Michael Landon Award was presented to Eddie by the California Governor’s Committee, for accurately portraying people with disabilities in the media.In 2009, Eddie received the Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions Earth Charter Award for his commitment to youth education and outreach. In 2010, Eddie won the Muriel Anderson Music For Life Alliance Award for supporting music education and providing instruments for children who may not otherwise enjoy the experience of making music. He received the Richard Lee Adelman Service Award in 2013, for outstanding contributions to the lives of individuals with disabilities. In 2013, he also received the Global Citizen Award from The Academia Cotopaxi Global Citizen award. This honor is bestowed on an individual who has made a significant contribution to the betterment of humanity in Ecuador and the world.
  • Emily Mostovoy (Author) Ventura County Office of Education
    Emily Mostovoy has over 15 years of experience in education. She has held positions as school counselor, principal and Special Education Director. She has over 10 years of experience as a school administrator, the last 6 years as Special Education Director. She is an active member of Special Education Administrators of County Office (Past Chair 2017-2018). Her current title is Executive Director of Special Education, and she has been with the Ventura County Office of Education for the last 5 years. She was instrumental in bringing The Rhythmic Arts Project to Ventura County Office of Education.
  • Denise Pannell, M.S. (Author) Ventura County Office of Education
    Denise Pannell, M.S. has worked for the Ventura County Office of Education (VCOE) for the past 12 years. In 2007, she was one of the first teachers to help open Triton Academy which is a highly specialized school to serve students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Denise continues to work as an education specialist and lead teacher at Triton and she has participated in collaborations such as Triton Advisory and Triton Academy Parent Association. Denise has been integral to the growth and opportunities provided to students at Triton. Her dedication and commitment to the program has allowed students to successfully transition to post-secondary opportunities but more so has guided support staff to become specialists in the education field. Denise works closely on committees such as the Transition Network Team (TNT) and with the Workability Coordinator through the Ventura County SELPA. Denise is also an Autism specialist and helps provide trainings within VCOE and county wide to teachers and families wanting to know more about services for students with ASD. Denise works collaboratively with specialists such as behaviorists, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, and with clinicians from Ventura County behavioral health to provide meaningful educational benefit and help give students the skillset needed to be successful when leaving her program.
  • Chris Landon, MD, FAAP, FCCP, CMD (Author) Ventura County Medical Center image/svg+xml
    Chris Landon, MD, FAAP, FCCP, CMD, is Director of Pediatrics at Ventura County Medical Center, Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Keck USC School of Medicine, and Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Landon developed the multi-disciplinary Pediatric Diagnostic Center serving children with special health care needs and their families, Landon Pediatric Foundation to support this work locally and globally, and is President of The Rhythmic Arts Project non-profit.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.64546/jaasep.401
Abstract
The Rhythmic Arts Project (TRAP) curriculum integrates visual, tactile, auditory and speech experiences through rhythmic drumming actions to address life skills. We evaluated life skills before and after participation in TRAP in a school-based setting in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Participants were 23 children in grades 6-12 in a special education program for students with ASD. We administered the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Index Computer Adaptive Test (PEDI-CAT) before and after they participated TRAP. Children showed significant increases in participation in daily activities, mobility status, cognitive and social skills, and responsibility after participation in TRAP. We did not have a comparison or control group, however we used a repeated baseline design to support that changes were generally not observed over the summer when children were not participating in TRAP. Our results represent a first step in evaluating the effectiveness of TRAP by systematically measuring changes in life skills.
Keywords
Auditory Stimuli, Autism, Cognitive Development, Daily Living Skills, Grade 10, Grade 11
References

California Autism Professional Training and Information Network Website. (n.d.). Retrieved August 25, 2017, from http://www.captain.ca.gov/.

Gordon, R. L., Jacobs, M. S., Schuele, C. M., & McAuley, J. D. (2015). Perspectives on the rhythm-grammar link and its implications for typical and atypical language development. Annals of New York Academy of Science, 1337(1), 16–25. http://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.12683 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.12683

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(13)70213-8 PEDI-CAT scoring website. (n.d.). PEDI-CAT scoring website. Retrieved August 25, 2017, from http://www.pedicat.com/scoring

PEDI-CAT website. (n.d.). Retrieved August 25, 2017, from http://www.pedicat.com

The Rhythmic Arts Project Website. (n.d.). Retrieved August 25, 2017, from http://www.trap-learning.org/trap-learning-exercise-course-guide.

Tryfon, A., Foster, N. E., Ouimet, T., Doyle-Thomas, K., Anagnostou, E., Sharda, M., et al. (2017). Auditory-motor rhythm synchronization in children with autism spectrum disorder. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 35, 51–61. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2016.12.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2016.12.004

There are 10 references in total.
How to Cite
Smith, B. A., Tuduri, E., Mostovoy, E., Pannell, D., & Landon, C. (2019). Evaluation of the Rhythmic Arts Project, a Multi-Modal Rhythm-Based Perception and Action Intervention, in a School-Based Setting in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Special Education Professionals, 14(2), 171-179. https://doi.org/10.64546/jaasep.401

Spring/Summer 2019

Article Information

  • Article Type Articles
  • Submitted April 23, 2019
  • Published June 15, 2019
  • Issue Spring/Summer 2019
  • Section Articles
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