Autism and Horseback Riding

Thus far I have read about various types of animals and how they are therapeutic for children with autism. I have seen how caring for animals and spending time with them can dramatically improve the functions of these children. But this week's article presented something entirely different--horseback riding.

The Effect of Therapeutic Horseback Riding on Social Function in Children with Autism by Margret M. Bass, Catherine A. Duchowny, and Maria M. Llabre suggest that "therapeutic horseback riding may be effective in improving social cognition in children with autism spectrum disorders" (1261). Through horseback riding therapy, the researchers attempted to improve functions such as communication, physical activity, balance and coordination, planning skills, vestibular processing, and proprioception; to improve these things, researchers designed structured activities, which were mounting/dismounting, exercises, riding skills, games and care activities. 

Ultimately, research showed that some, but not all, of the goals were fulfilled. The researchers found improvement in sensory integration, directed attention, social motivation, and sensory sensitivity. Similar to past studies, the presence of the animal made the children want to participate, and yielded improvement in key areas.

Over and over again I have found that animal assisted therapy has had great benefits on children with autism, no matter what the therapy session included. I thought this study was particularly interesting because it was not typical to the other studies I have read-- the animals used were much larger and required more direct activity than care or petting. Though the mode of therapy was extremely unique, it did seem like the improvements in functions using horseback riding as the means of therapy were not as high as improvements seen in the other therapy studies. 

I suggested in the last post that perhaps in the future, normal household pets, combined with training by parents, could improve the lives of autistic children on a daily basis. This study supports that suggestion because horses are much less accessible to the average family, and require quite a bit of work that most working families might not have time for, and because they are somewhat less effective in comparison to studies with more common household pets. Therefore, I will continue to believe that pets can someday change the lives autistic children.

Lounging around

Watching TV

"I'm cute and I know it!"