ll (n.d., n.p.) reports that music has been used as a mask against background noise for students doing math problems and has been used as a relaxation aid prior to doing mathematics problems; additionally, in one study, students were allowed to individually select music to be played while they completed a math exam. This paper will explore the impact of music therapy and examine whether special education students might benefit from studying with iPods.
Music exerts a potent impact on human beings in a variety of ways. According to Elizabeth Miles, author of Tune Your Brain: Using Music to Manage Your Mind, Body, and Mood, music affects the way a person thinks, feels, and acts every day (Hamburg, 1998, p. 1). Miles explains that when music reaches the inner ear, it is "converted into electrical energy...and...then sent to the brain, through the spine and out into the muscles," noting that "the right kind of music literally electrifies your body" (Hamburg, 1998, p. 1).
The use of music for elevating mood, spurring activity, and achieving a reflective state has been known for many years, but music's propensity to assist people in thinking and concentrating has just begun to come under study in the past 20 years. Burleson, Center, and Reeves (1989, p. 199) cite Berland (1970), who made a review of studies that examined how music affected performance and concluded that "music increases concentration in most individuals," an effect attributed to the way music enables people to maintain the focus of their attention.
Husband and wife team Arlyn and Will Kantz, owners of Precision Songs-a Fort Worth-based developmental learning company-started their business several years ago when their own son was diagnosed with autism (Dillard, 2009, p. 21). Noticing that son Willson was having difficulty with speech, Arlyn set a word drill her son was having trouble with and made a song out of it; after playing the song f...