AlgoRhythm: Play and train your rhythmic skills

Project: AlgoRhythm - Assessing and ameliorating sensory processing deficits of children with autism spectrum disorder employing a rhythmic game

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Dynamics of Youth Project

Bringing together experts in music information computing, psychiatry, music therapy, game design, data science, learning technology, neuroscience		 KendoScreenshot













About the project

Music is increasingly considered beneficial for health and well-being,  one of the most salient aspects of music is its regular temporal structure (Agres, Schaefer, Volk et al, 2021). Specifically, it has been shown that music-based interventions provide a promising direction for detecting sensory processing challenges for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), see e.g. Ravizza et al (2013). Recent pilot studies indicate that therapeutic interventions based on musical rhythms can improve planning and execution strategies, but also improve childrens' social skills (Pasiali et al., 2014; Yoo & Kim, 2018; LaGasse et al., 2019).

In this project, we build upon our pilot study in which we collected data with the digital instrument DrumPad (Van Berkel, 2018), realizing a series of 5 rhythmic tasks of differing complexity, requiring the children both to listen and respond.  We conversed the DrumPad device into a serious game (i.e. a game with a primary purpose other than entertainment), which can be played on computer tablets. With this  game, we can further assess potential sensory processing deficits, but also therapeutically train children by employing a series of rhythmic tasks with different complexity, in order to improve their rhythmic interactions.

The project is financed by a Dynamics of Youth invigoration grant, and constitutes a collaboration between Utrecht University, University Medical Center Utrecht, Nederlandse Vereniging voor Autisme, and Leiden University.

Doe jij mee?


Flyer Kendo game
 Voor kinderen met en zonder autisme van 6 tot en met 12 jaar.

In een periode van drie weken wordt de zintuigelijke prikkelverwerking van uw kind onderzocht middels en speciaal ontwikkeld ritmisch spel, met als doel het trainen en verbeteren van de vaardigheden.

Meedoen of vragen? Zie email op de flyer links beneden.













Team members

Relevant literature

Agres, K., Schaefer, R.S., Volk, A., Van Hooren, S., Holzapfel, A., Dalla Bella, S., Mueller, M., De Witte, M., Herremans, D., Ramirez Mendelez, R., Neerincx, M., Ruiz, S., Meredith, D., Dimitriades, T. & Magee, W.L. (2021). Music, Computing, and Health: A roadmap for the current and future roles of music technology for healthcare and well-being. Music & Science, DOI: 10.1177/2059204321997709
La Gasse, A.B,  Manning R.C.B., Crasta J.E., Gavin W.J., & Davies P.L. (2019). Assessing the Impact of Music Therapy on Sensory Gating and attention in Children with Autism: A pilot and Feasibility Study, Journal of Music Therapy, 56 (3): 287-314.
Pasiali, V., LaGasse, A. B., & Penn, S. L. (2014). The effect of musical attention control training (MACT) on attention skills of adolescents with neurodevelopmental delays: A pilot study. Journal of Music Therapy, 51(4), 333-354.
Ravizza, S. M., Solomon, M., Ivry, R. B., & Carter, C. S. (2013). Restricted and repetitive behaviors in autism spectrum disorders: The relationship of attention and motor deficits. Development and Psychopathology, 25(3), 773-784
Yoo, G.E. and Kim, S.J. (2018). Dyadic Drum Playing and Social Skills: Implications for Rhythm-Mediated Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Journal of Music Therapy, 55(3), 340-375.

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