Karyna Johnson of Huntsville, a senior at UCA, has been awarded a $2,194 Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education.
Johnson’s study will examine the effects of structured musical activity sessions on the development of a five year old, high-functioning child with autism. Autism is a developmental disability affecting the way a person communicates and relates to people around them. Although children with autism exhibit varied musical abilities, research has shown music possesses the ability to stimulate meaningful social interaction, social communication, and imagination for all children, regardless of musical ability. The study will seek to discover if structured musical activity sessions create a higher level of social-functioning as well as a creative outlet for the child with autism.
“As a future music educator, I believe music education should have three major focuses: helping people understand and appreciate music both culturally and aesthetically, enriching people’s lives through shared and individualistic musical experience, and helping them learn to communicate their thoughts and needs through music as therapy, entertainment, and art,” Johnson said. “One of the ways I hope to help current and future educators is by presenting my findings during UCA’s Education Day in the fall of 2008. I hope to use this study as a starting point for my education in music therapy and to open the door for further study in the profession.”
Johnson’s research project, “The Effects of Structured Musical Activity Sessions on the Development of a Child with Autism: A Case Study,” will be supervised by Paige Rose of UCA’s Music department.