Feasibility Study: Improvised Music to Enhance the Effectiveness of Intensive Interaction in Developing Interpersonal Communication of Profoundly Intellectually Disabled Children and Young People

This is a small feasibility study to be conducted at a single research site, a special school for sensory and physical needs. The study is intended both to trial the research methodology and to estimate the effect size likely to be found if a larger study were carried out.

Intensive Interaction is a form of behavioural intervention developed by Nind and Hewett and extensively practised in schools and other institutions caring for people with profound intellectual disability who require special support in order to develop (non-verbal) interpersonal communication. Whilst the term Intensive Interaction can describe the attitude and behavioural style of staff throughout their contact with subjects, it can also, as in this study, refer to specific scheduled times in which the approach is adopted by staff with individual pupils or service users.

The subjects of this study are among those for whom Intensive Interaction is most beneficial, as assessed by the speech and language therapist at the research site. As these pupils would normally receive this intervention on account of their assessed needs, Intensive Interaction is designated the 'active comparator' (otherwise known as 'treatment as usual').

Since in the experimental condition two staff support each subject simultaneously, there is a need to distinguish effects attributable to the additional music from those attributable to the behaviour of the primary interactors. By treating Intensive Interaction as the active comparator it is hoped any effects of added music may be isolated.

Improvised music is in this study being trialed as an adjunctive therapy to Intensive Interaction. Previous research suggests that music improvised music therapist can under certain conditions facilitate the development of interpersonal interaction between subject and support worker. To replicate the conditions under which the previous study found this to be the case, the musical intervention has been manualised to guide the 2 music therapists who will provide the improvised supportive music. They will add music from session 5 of a total of 16, having observed the progress of Intensive Interaction without music during the first 4 sessions in order to make a detailed assessment of needs and how music might meet them.