Research summaries for autism therapy: hippotherapy | Healing Thresholds

Research summaries for autism therapy: hippotherapy

definition of hippotherapy: Therapy that involves individuals interacting with and riding on horses. Hippotherapy is done with a licensed physical or occupational therapist and has specific physical goals for each session and is physical or occupational therapy using the horse as the therapy tool. Hippotherapy may be beneficial to people with a variety of special needs, including children with autism.

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The Effect of Therapeutic Horseback Riding on Social Functioning in Children with Autism, Summarized Oct 5, 2009

Therapeutic horseback riding may improve social skills in children with autism.

Children with autism who rode horses as therapy showed improvements in several social skills after 12 weeks of therapy. This study compared before-therapy and after-therapy scores on social skills tests for 19 children (5-10 years old). Children were improved in sensory seeking and sensitivity. They also had more social motivation and were less distracted. The authors said that this is the first study to measure the impact of horseback riding on social skills in children with autism.

Synonyms for hippotherapy include: hippo therapy

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