FUNCTIONAL MUSIC SKILLS OF PERSONS WITH MENTAL-RETARDATION

This study investigated the frequency of functional music skills demonstrated by 120 persons with mild to severe mental retardation living in the community. In addition, this study explored the relationship between the number of functional music skills and personal variables of sex, severity of problem behavior, level of mental retardation, and site of residence. Professional and nonprofessional staff members working in community living arrangements for persons with mental retardation collected data on assigned subjects with a survey instrument which included a checklist of 45 functional music skills derived using an ecological assessment strategy. Resuits of regression analysis indicated that the number of functional music skills was significantly related to level of mental retardation and site of residence (p =.000), with the number of functional music skills decreasing as severity of mental retardation increased, and increasing as the size of site location increased. Crosstabs analysis provided descriptive data on the percentage of persons with mental retardation who demonstrated each functional music skill. Results of this study provide prerequisite information needed to support arguments for the inclusion of functional music skills in leisure education programming for persons with mental retardation. © 1990 Oxford University Press.