Equine-Assisted Occupational Therapy: Increasing Engagement for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Engagement in meaningful activities is essential to development and is often reduced in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have limited engagement in activities or relationships. A multiple-baseline design was used with 7 children with ASD ages 4-8 yr to assess the effect of including...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of occupational therapy 2016-11, Vol.70 (6), p.7006220040p1-7006220040p9
Main Authors: Llambias, Cecilia, Magill-Evans, Joyce, Smith, Veronica, Warren, Sharon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Animals
Autism Spectrum Disorder - rehabilitation
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Care and treatment
Child
Child, Preschool
Environment
Equine-Assisted Therapy - methods
Female
Health aspects
Horses
Humans
Individualized Education Programs
Individualized Instruction
Male
Occupational therapy
Occupational Therapy - methods
Pervasive developmental disorders
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Summary:Engagement in meaningful activities is essential to development and is often reduced in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have limited engagement in activities or relationships. A multiple-baseline design was used with 7 children with ASD ages 4-8 yr to assess the effect of including a horse in occupational therapy intervention on task engagement. The children showed improvements in engagement. Including horses in occupational therapy sessions may be a valuable addition to conventional treatments to increase task engagement of children with ASD. Factors related to the environment, therapeutic strategies, and individual participation need to be considered in understanding why this intervention may be effective and developing a theoretical basis for implementation.
ISSN:0272-9490
1943-7676
DOI:10.5014/ajot.2016.020701