This paper presents global evidence derived from a systematic review of literature on the issues of music therapy and individuals with intellectual disability. An extensive bibliographies databases search was conducted resulting in the identification of 2,351 academic papers, from which nine papers met the inclusion criteria for in-depth analysis related to music therapy and individuals with intellectual disability. Findings from the analysis revealed that music therapy has been used for diagnostic purposes, therapeutics in the medical field, for enhancing learning and development of specific skills. The findings also show that music therapy was effective in enhancing parent-child interaction. Based on the identified benefits of music therapy for individuals with intellectual disability, it is recommended that workshops be organised for professionals providing services to individuals with intellectual disability on the benefits of using music therapy. Moreover, there is a need to increase the sample size in future studies to draw generalizable conclusions.

music therapy, intellectual disability, intervention