Advantages of Equine Therapy

New therapy strategies and ideas are continuously evolving. There is a fairly new kind of therapy for children with Autism and attention deficit disorders called Equine therapy.  The Equine Therapy website defines “Equine assisted psychotherapy [as] an emerging form of therapeutic intervention in which horses are used as tools for clients to gain self-understanding and emotional growth.” Activities, such as grooming, feeding, and leading the horses, are set up and facilitated by a licensed mental health professional with assistance from a horse professional. Although there is not much research and evidence to prove the benefits of equine therapy, many mental health professionals are agreeing that using animals as part of the therapy is a valuable addition to a child’s treatment plan.

So how does equine therapy directly help children with Autism? Well mental health professionals believe that “the rhythmic motion of riding a horse causes the kids to focus on the movement - which is slow, deliberate, and relaxing.” While the child is improving on focus skills, they are also stimulating tactile senses. For example, exploring the different surfaces of the horse and feeling the difference between the fluffy hair and the soft, moist nose. Different activities, such as riding and grooming of the horses, assist with development of gross and fine motor skills. Children with Autism also often have difficulty with social interactions. Through equine therapy the child becomes more comfortable interacting with the horse, which allows the child to open up and bond with the animals. After this major stepping stone, the child will then have the ablity to build relationships with people and other children.

Equine Therapy has been successful in making huge improvements in children’s lives that are diagnosed with Autism. It is a safe environment where children have the opportunity to grow and learn. The interaction the child experiences with the horse helps the child to become calmer and increase overall happiness.  

Below is a list that shows the positive benefits of Equine therapy programs:

• Confidence
• Self-Efficacy
• Self-Concept
• Communication
• Trust
• Perspective
• Decreased Isolation
• Self-Acceptance
• Impulse Control
• Social Skills
• Boundaries
• Spiritual Connection

Like I stated previously, incorporating horses in therapy is fairly new. The first time I heard about Equine Therapy was from a good friend of mine. We were catching up and she mentioned that she was working at a center that used Equine Therapy for children and adults diagnosed with Autism, Down syndrome, and Cerebral Palsy. She said that the patients really enjoyed being around the horses and that their faces would brighten up.  I think this is a great environment to do therapy. The clients are outdoors and are able to look at the sky, trees, and flowers. Nature is calming and relaxing and brings a new element into the therapy. This is a great alternative to use rather than being in a small room with one window. The main goal is to help clients improve overall in different areas of skills. When the client is happy, there is a higher chance of reaching their intended goals and outcomes. 

Here are the references and more websites to learn about the advantages of Equine Therapy:

• http://www.equine-therapy-programs.com/aspergers.html
• http://www.wayofthehorse.org/Articles/horse-therapy.html
• http://www.pathintl.org/resources-education/resources/eaat/201-what-is-efpl

Adaptive Games

     The inspiration for this blog post came from my volunteer work as a clinic aid in the AAC clinic at San Francisco State University. In my previous post I talked about what AAC was and the two communication systems, aided and unaided. To refresh your memory, aided communication uses technology and unaided communication includes the use of gestures or sign language. At San Francisco State we had a camp, AAC Storytellers Club, which was geared toward improving language skills. The theme of the camp was the Summer Olympics. The main reason I am bring this up is because we had to create adaptable games and activities for the children to participate in. All of the campers used aided communication systems and were physically disabled.

      Each day we focused on an Olympic sport. Depending on the sport of the day, we introduced all the vocabulary and created activities related to that specific sport.

 Here are some examples of the sports and activities we coordinated:

 Track and Field: We took a field trip and set up the games at the track.

Activity #1: Cones

There were five cones set up. Each child was given two opportunities to race through the cones and their best time was recorded.

 Activity #2: Frisbee Toss

Again the children got two opportunities to through the Frisbee and their farthest distance was recorded.

 Activity #3: Relay Race

The children were all spread out along the track and took turns passing the baton to their friends.

 Basketball: We took a field trip to the basketball court and played three games.

 Activity # 1: Questions about Basketball

The leader asked a question and the children answered the questions with the help of the clinicians and their aided devices.

 Activity # 2: Hoops

Hula hoops were set up on the floor. The children took turns rolling the ball and attempted to hit as many hula hoops as possible. Each child got two chances and their “personal best” was recorded.

 Activity # 3: Dribbling

We had big orange balloons with strings attached. The strings were placed on the children’s wrists. As they moved their hand the balloon ball would move up and down. Each child “dribbled” from one cone to another.

 Gymnastics:

Activity # 1: Bean Bag
The children danced around to the bean bag song. They had to follow the directions of the song and place the bean bag on different parts of their body.

Activity # 2: Limbo

We decorated a limbo stick with streamers. Each child got an opportunity to limbo underneath the stick as it got lower and lower.

 Activity # 3: Ribbon Dance

We attached ribbon to a rubber band and placed it around each child’s wrist. They twirled their ribbon and danced while music was being played.

     Due to the children’s disabilities and language delays, the clinicians gave a lot of prompting and support to create a fun learning environment that encouraged the use of language.