Parents Perceptions of Music Therapy Research

Parents Perceptions of Music Therapy Research Parents Perceptions of Music Therapy Research Parent coaching is currently at the forefront of the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) field, since it facilitates generalization to the home and it provides caregivers with tools to parent their child. However, parent coaching in music therapy is only starting and has very little research with families with ASD. Challenges in parent participation have been observed in clinical practice and research experiences. Given the need to understand the beneficiaries perspective, this project will investigate parents perceptions of music therapy research, barriers to access, and research recruitment difficulties. This study will have a phenomenological methodology, where a phenomenon is identified (i.e., perception of music therapy research), and the people who may have experienced it (i.e., the parents) will be interviewed. Participants will be recruited from parent groups in a large metropolitan area. Recruitment will also be done through flyers, word of mouth, and snowballing methods. Participants will be interviewed in 3 focus groups (5 participants each). The basic interview questions (see Appendix) will be asked, with possible follow-up questions. The 90-minute sessions will be audio-recorded and then transcribed verbatim. Transcriptions will be analyzed by both the principal investigator and the research assistant. Cluster of meanings (quotes and statements) and context descriptions (conditions on which the phenomenon was experienced) will be extracted. A description of a distilled essence will be elaborated with these two elements. Participants will be convened at a later date, in groups. They will read the description of the distilled essence and will provide feedback regarding accuracy and relatedness to their individual experience. Findings from this study will provide music therapists (clinicians and researchers) with a roadmap to address family needs, improve research models, and make findings relevant to participating families. Families of children with ASD will benefit by having an active voice in the development of interventions that better address their needs.