This scoping review addresses peer-reviewed research on musical interaction with children and young people with severe/profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (S/PIMD). Twenty-five articles published between the years 2000 and 2020 met the inclusion criteria. A narrative synthesis was used to summarise and evaluate different features, including participant characteristics, study design and methods, type of musical interaction, the abilities and behaviours in focus, reported benefits, promising components of musical interaction, and quality appraisal of the studies. The results revealed a variation in participant characteristics and study designs, where small-sample descriptive case studies were most common. In terms of the type of musical interaction, active music therapy was the most commonly used approach, followed by technology-mediated and multisensory musical activities. In terms of abilities and behaviours, a large majority of the studies focused on social interaction and communication, followed by engagement, attention and affect. Six categories were identified as promising components of musical interaction: the responsivity of the interaction partner, singing songs, structure and predictability in the activities, long-term interventions, technology-mediated and multisensory musical activities, and a therapeutic alliance between interaction partners. Based on this review, we discuss future research and practical implications for musical interaction and music therapy for children and young people with S/PIMD.

Background: Interactive engagement, specifically attention and initiation, are considered important skills for facilitating development and learning in students with severe/profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Prior research has suggested that music therapy and multisensory storytelling are two promising interventions for supporting interactive engagement in this population. However, there are no known/published studies that have investigated the effect of combining relevant elements from musical interaction and multisensory storytelling for this group of students. This study aims to determine the effect of a novel educational approach—MultiSensory Music Drama (MSMD)—on the interactive engagement of students with severe/profound intellectual and multiple disabilities.

Methods: A single-case experimental design, specifically an ABAB design across three participants, was used to describe the effect of MSMD on interactive engagement when compared with a control activity. School staff members' perceptions of student interactive engagement and social validity were obtained.

Findings: Coded video observations showed significantly higher levels of interactive engagement during MSMD for all three participants when compared to the control activity. Furthermore, the ratings on the interactive engagement from school staff members improved for two of the three participants. Finally, school staff members scored the social validity and perceived educational usefulness of the MSMD as very high.

Conclusions: The findings provide initial evidence that MSMD may be effective in supporting the interactive engagement of some students with severe/profound intellectual and multiple disabilities.

The feasibility of a pedagogical approach—MultiSensory Music Drama (MSMD)—was investigated in collaboration with a teacher and a student with severe/profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (S/PIMD). Educational research for this group of learners is scarce, but research has suggested the potential of integrating music and multisensory storytelling to promote interactive engagement. A case study using co-production between a teacher and researchers was conducted. The development, implementation and evaluation of MSMD lessons were performed, by carrying out the lessons, iteratively refining them through stimulated recall interviews and ratings of student engagement. The long-term feasibility was investigated through a post-intervention survey and a follow-up interview. Inductive content analysis was used for data analysis. In-depth descriptions of the implementation process are provided. The teacher found the MSMD approach useful in relation to the syllabus and motivating for the student. She reported that she had continued to use MSMD with all of her students and that several of her colleagues had started to use it as well. Our results suggest that MSMD can be a meaningful approach for practitioners working with these learners. The study also reveals aspects of professional knowledge when working with students with S/PIMD.