Evidence-Based Music Therapy to Support Attention in Individuals with Autism: Presenting Guidelines for Best-Practice Intervention Selection, Adaptation, and Design

There is a need for clinical tools that guide evidence-based decision making for music therapists who support the attention needs of children and adults with autism. The purpose of this study was to create a stand-alone clinical resource for music therapists that serves as a comprehensive bridge between research and clinical practice. It is intended to provide a set of evidence-based guidelines for music therapists that is easy to use and provides comprehensive information and considerations to guide intervention selection, adaptation, and design. This study contains a scoping literature review that examines current research on attention, autism, and the use of music to support attention functioning in autistic children and adults. In addition, it presents the Music Therapy Intervention Guidelines for Attention in Autism (MTIG-AA) tool, which is intended to be used by board certified music therapists serving the attention needs of children and adults with autism.