Visual versus auditory (musical) stimulus preferences in autistic children: a pilot study.

This study investigated perceptual preferences of autistic children comparing responses to auditory musical and visual stimuli. The results indicated a weak preference of autistic children for the auditory musical stimulus, however, without the data approaching statistical significance. The autistic children spent significantly more time with the musical stimulus than the two control groups of normal children, equated by chronological and developmental age, respectively. Implications of these findings for a music therapy treatment concept are discussed.