TITLE:
The Effects of a Drums Alive® Kids Beats Intervention on the Physical Performance and Motor Skills of Children with Developmental Delays
AUTHORS:
Carrie Ekins, Peter R. Wright, Marianne Liebich, Jacqueline Wright, Henry Schulz, Dean Owens
KEYWORDS:
Multidisciplinary, Music, Movement, Drumming, Developmental Delay, Behavior
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.11 No.4,
December
27,
2021
ABSTRACT: The objective of this
original pilot study was to determine if the Drums Alive® Kids Beats
intervention could provide statistically significant improvements to physical
and motor skill performance on participants with Developmental Delays (DD)
using the Dusseldorf Motor-Proficiency-Test for children (MOT 4-6) model. The
researchers selected the research-based Drums Alive Kids Beat intervention
because of its multidisciplinary methodology that in previous studies
demonstrated positive effects on physiological, psychological, neurological,
educational, rhythmical, and socio-emotional literacy. Facilitators used
standardized Drums Alive approved lesson plans and equipment to conduct the
intervention through a battery of music, movement and drumming-centered
exercises and activities. The 30 participants were German students between 4.9
and 10.2 years of age, without any inclusion or exclusion characteristics, who
were divided into three groups consisting of two intervention groups: IG
Kindergarten (IG Kinder), IG Elementary (IG Elem) with varied physical, social, and
emotional DD that affected gross and fine motor skills, movement, coordination,
and behavioral control; and, a Control Group (CG) that had normal physical and
motor skill development (Table 1). The results of the study suggested
that the Drums Alive Kids Beats intervention provided statistically significant
improvements in physical and motor skill performance in children with DD,
namely, 24% improvement (IG Kinder), 14% (IG Elem) vice a minor 4% improvement
(CG). Of note, during this study to measure physical capability pre- and
post-intervention, the facilitators noticed significant improvements in
behavior in both IG groups; therefore, they chose to conduct a collateral study
to measure six behavioral domains which will be documented in a future
publication to demonstrate the exclusive relationship between the Drums Alive
Kids Beats intervention and improvement in behavior.