Musical preferences of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities:A participatory design with proxies

Background: Inclusive research advocates for the involvement of people with intellectual disabilities to be more than passive participants within the research process.Methods: This study used a participatory design with proxies to consult with 13 people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities, on their musical preferences. Four instrumental listening tracks were created for consideration. The expected outcome was that people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities would contribute to the codesign and development of a Musical Play framework. The study took place in England.Findings: Proxy reports suggested that elements of music such as the tempo, tonality and instrumentation influenced the participants' responses. Responses were mixed across all tracks, indicating that the musical preferences of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities are variable and individualised.Conclusion: Further exploration of how people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities can contribute to inclusive research is recommended

Dialogic Reading Effect on Communicative Initiations and Responses for Children with Autism: A Systematic Review

Dialogic reading (DR) is an evidence-based interactive shared reading intervention. This systematic review investigated the effect of DR interventions on the communicative initiations and responses of children with autism, an area of great difficulty for most individuals with autism. More precisely, the paper aimed to (a) describe the characteristics of DR interventions, (b) evaluate the outcomes and effectiveness of DR interventions, and (c) synthesize the quality of the studies. Nine experimental studies were included in the review in which the original DR intervention or adapted versions of it were examined. All studies provided strong to adequate research report strength. Although the review showed inconsistent effects of the interventions on the communicative initiations and responses of children with autism, it concluded that DR can be a promising and beneficial shared reading intervention