This study aimed to understand how the program of group music play therapy
affected to the self-expression and the improvement of sociality in children with the
autism spectrum disorder. The subjects were three children with the autism spectrum
disorder. The program was conducted once a week, and totally 12 cycles of group
music play therapy were performed with 50 minute duration per each cycle. The
evaluation tools were used by self-expression rating scale and social skills rating
system (SSRS) before and after the program implementations. The study results
showed that their self-expression skill and sociality were improved by the program of
group music play therapy. Upon the analysis by cycle, self-expression skill and
sociality in later stage were more improved than those in earlier stage, demonstrating
the positive effect of this program. Therefore, the program of group music play therapy
performed in this study was proven to be effective to improve the self-expression and
sociality in children with the autism spectrum disorder. Finally, we discussed the
meanings and implications of this study, as well as the suggestions of the further
studies.