Effects of a Therapeutic Horseback Riding Program on Social Interaction and Communication in Children with Autism.

Mengxian Zhao,Shihui Chen,Yonghao You,Yongtai Wang,Yanjie Zhang

doi:10.3390/ijerph18052656

Abstract

Various therapeutic interventions have been studied and found to be effective in reducing the stereotypical behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). There has been increasing interest in using animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) as an alternative approach to therapeutic rehabilitation for children with ASD, and many studies have reported that AAI has significant benefits for the cognitive, psychological, and social behavior of children with ASD. The present study was designed to examine the effects of a 16 weeks therapeutic horseback riding program on social interaction and communication skills in children with autism. Eighty-four children diagnosed with ASD, aged between 6 and 12 years old, were recruited for this study. All selected participants met the DSM-V criteria, and a total of sixty-one participants (N = 61) completed the study. A quasi-experimental design with an experimental group and control group was implemented for this study, taking measurements at pre-test, interim-test, and post-test to monitor the behavior changes in social and communication throughout the 16-week intervention. Repeated measures ANOVA and the independent sample t-test were used for data analysis, to assess the difference between the experimental group and control group. The results indicated that the THR program had positive influences on overall social skills and communication, based on the SSIS and the ABLLS-R scores, compared to the control group (p < 0.05). A notable improvement in the overall social interaction score was observed from the interim-testing point to post-test. In addition, participants in the therapeutic horseback riding (THR) group achieved significant improvements on six out of seven items in their communication evaluations. In conclusion, after 16 weeks of intervention, the THR program significantly enhanced the subdomains of social and communication skills in the areas of social interaction, communication, responsibility, and self-control, compared to the control group.

Highlights

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) typically have impairments in social interaction and communication and show stereotyped behavior patterns
The Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scales was employed to evaluate the social skills of children with ASD, and a series of repeated ANOVAs was used on the final sample to assess possible changes in social interactions among children with ASD in the therapeutic horseback riding (THR) experimental group compared to the control group (Mauchly’s test of sphericity: Mauchly’s W = 0.450, p < 0.05)
This study was designed to examine the effects of a 16-week therapeutic horseback riding program on social interaction and communication skills in children with ASD

Summary

Introduction

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) typically have impairments in social interaction and communication and show stereotyped behavior patterns. The number of children diagnosed with ASD is increasing dramatically around the world. An estimated 1 in 54 children had ASD in the United States in 2020, which is nearly a 170%. Increase from the 1 in 150 with this diagnosis in 2000 [1,2]. There is an increasing trend in the prevalence of children with ASD in Asia. The educational approach and behavior therapies for children with ASD have attracted increasing attention over the past decade. Many therapeutic interventions have been studied and found to be effective for certain typical behaviors of children with ASD, in improving autistic children’s social

Methods

Results

Conclusion