The Autism-CHIME Project
What we want to find out
The Autism-CHIME (Children’s Improvisational Music Therapy Evaluation) study will explore whether improvisational music therapy can support autistic children aged 7–11 in areas such as social interaction, communication, emotional wellbeing, and stress regulation. We want to understand whether children who take part in improvisational music therapy experience meaningful changes over time, compared with children who continue with their usual support without music therapy.
Why we’re doing this research
Music therapy is an evidence-based approach conducted by registered music therapists. It is used to support emotional wellbeing, communication, and reducing stress. Improvisational music therapy involves children and therapists co-creating music together in a responsive, flexible way, without relying on spoken language or prior musical experience. This can create enjoyable and accessible opportunities for interaction and self-expression.
Some research and practice experience suggest that this approach may be particularly well suited to autistic children. However, there is currently limited high-quality evidence showing whether these benefits are reliable or last over time. This research aims to address that gap by carefully evaluating the effects of improvisational music therapy, helping families, practitioners, and services make informed decisions.
Method
We will invite 200 autistic children, along with their parents or carers, to take part. At the beginning of the study, each child’s social communication, wellbeing, and psychosocial development will be assessed.
Children will be recruited through their schools and randomly placed into one of two groups. One group will receive 12 weeks of improvisational music therapy delivered by a registered music therapist, alongside their usual support. The other group will continue with their usual support but will not receive music therapy during this time.
Follow-up assessments will take place at 13 weeks, after the music therapy sessions have ended, to explore whether music therapy, in addition to usual support, is associated with changes in social communication or wellbeing. A further follow-up at 39 weeks will examine whether any changes have been maintained over time.
We will measure 4 different outcomes to see if improvisational music therapy can:
- Improve social skills
- Improve communication skills
- Improve wellbeing
- Reduce psychosocial distress
We will also look at the relationship between the child and therapist, to explore whether a strong therapeutic connection is linked to positive outcomes.
Read more about the Autism-CHIME Study protocol
Community engagement
We worked with six members of the autism community with relevant expertise, including an autistic person and the parent of an autistic child, about the design of the study and the supporting materials, including the information sheet, consent form and recruitment flyers. Their feedback led to changes to both the study and its materials, including closer collaboration with schools to embed music therapy into everyday school routines, working with teaching staff to reduce disruption and avoid additional demands on children and families, and ensuring that all materials are child-centred and designed to minimise overstimulation
We have formed a study Steering Committee, comprising of four independent experts. The purpose of the Steering Committee is to advise us throughout the course of the three-year project. One of the committee members is both autistic and a music therapist.
Potential impact
Music offers a way to connect and communicate without relying on spoken language, through shared rhythm, melody, and sound. The timing and anticipation of musical rhythm, and the sounds of a musical instrument, can be predictable and create enjoyable patterns that can be easily followed by many autistic children, who sometimes have enhanced pattern recognition and rhythm perception skills.
Improvisational music therapy creates a structured yet flexible space where children can interact socially through music in a way that feels safe and manageable. Because sessions are child-led, children have control over how each session unfolds, which may support confidence, self-esteem, and emotional wellbeing.
This study aims to clarify whether improvisational music therapy is a helpful and appropriate option, so that decisions about funding, access, and provision are informed and ethical. If the findings show positive outcomes, they may help parents, educators, and services feel more confident in offering music therapy as an evidence-based, child-centred support.
Results
We anticipate sharing the preliminary results in May 2026, and additional analysis in Autumn 2026. When ready, the key findings will be shared on this page.
Publications
Scientific publications
Poster presentations
Kovalova, A., Jaschke, A.C., Howlin, C., Pool, J., Greenberg,Y.D., Brushwood, C., Merriam, E., Pallás-Ferrer, I., Atkinson, R., Hayden, K., Moore, C., Allison, C., Odell-Miller, H., Baron-Cohen, S., Preliminary findings from a randomized control trial on the effectiveness of improvisational music therapy for autistic children. Recruitment and demographics, INSAR 2025, Seattle, USA
Pallas-Ferrer, I., Jaschke, A.C., Howlin, C., Pool, J., Greenberg, Y.D., Atkinson, R., Kovalova, A., Merriam, E., , Williams, S., Moore, C. , Hayden, K., Allison, C., Odell-Miller, H., Baron-Cohen, S., A Randomised control trial on the effectiveness of improvisational music therapy for autistic children aged 7-11 [Autism-CHIME Trial], poster presentation at the Music and Neuroscience conference 2024, Helsinki
Howlin, C., Allison, C., Odell-Miller, H., Greenberg, D. Pool, J., Baron-Cohen, S. (2023, August 24 – 28). Evaluating the effectiveness of Music Therapy on autistic children’s social communication and wellbeing. [Autism-CHIME]. [Poster presentation]. The 17th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition and the 7th Conference of the Asia-Pacific Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music. Tokyo, Japan.
Paper presentations
Howlin, C., Allison, C., Pool, J., Greenberg, D., Odell-Miller, H., Baron-Cohen, S. (2024, July 3 – 6) What are the cognitive factors that contribute to effective music therapy for autistic children aged 7 -11? Introducing a longitudinal randomised controlled trial. [Paper presentation]. 12th triennial conference of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music (ESCOM 12), York, UK.
Howlin, C., Allison, C., Odell-Miller, H., Greenberg, D. Pool, J., Jaschke, A., Baron-Cohen, S. (2024, May 8 – 10). Designing the Autism-CHIME music therapy clinical trial: striking the balance between creative approaches, scientific rigour, and neuroinclusivity. [Paper Presentation].Arts and Health Symposium, The International Association of Empirical Aesthetics, Palma, Mallorca, Spain.
Howlin, C. (2024, March 7). Designing the Autism-CHIME music therapy clinical trial: striking the balance between creative approaches, scientific rigour, and neuroinclusivity. [Paper presentation]. Exploring Medical and Health Humanities in TCD. Long room hub, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Staff:
- Professor Sir Simon Baron-Cohen
- Dr Artur C Jaschke
- Professor Carrie Allison
- Professor Helen Odell-Miller
- Dr David Greenberg
- Dr Claire Howlin
- Anna Kovalova
- Irene Pallás
- Eve Merriam
- Catherine Brushwood