Living with anxiety spikes, focus fog, or constant sensory overload as an autistic, AuDHD, or ADHD adult—and wondering if music could actually help your brain calm down? This episode of Adulting With Autism explores music therapy for autistic adults with Dr. Barb Minton, a psychologist and neuroscientist who started as a pipe organ major and went on to create the Calm the Storm album with guitarist Peppino D'Agostino.​

Dr. Barb explains how music can entrain brain waves—how tempo, rhythm, and sound textures can gently guide the nervous system toward calmer or more focused states. She shares how specific choices (like slower tempos around 60–80 beats per minute for calm, or slightly faster tempos around 110–120 for focus) may support sleep, pain management, migraines, and attention, and why the body "hears" vibration through mechanoreceptors as well as through your ears.​

You will hear stories of how music has been used to support neurodivergent adults, including those with autism and ADHD, and how to experiment safely: choosing tracks that feel regulating rather than overwhelming, adjusting volume, and noticing your own responses instead of following rigid rules. Dr. Barb also talks about why music is still underused in mainstream care despite promising research and real-world results.​

This episode is especially helpful if you:

• Feel overstimulated or shut down and want non-medication tools to try

• Are curious whether specific music choices could help with anxiety, focus, or sleep

• Want a more science-informed understanding of why certain music "works" for your brain

If this conversation supports you, follow/subscribe to Adulting With Autism on Podbean, Apple, or Spotify and leave a 5-star review so more neurodivergent adults can find it.

Merch for your calm and focus journey:
Get 20% off journals, tees, and "Brainwave Harmony"–style merch with code PODCAST26 at the Adulting With Autism Fourthwall shop ( Linktree). Your support helps keep this podcast free for the community.

Resources mentioned:

• Calm the Storm and more music at musicandhealing.net

• Dr. Barb's work and workshops at drbminton.com