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Friday, May 8, 2009
Northwest Hall (Chicago Hilton)
12:00 PM
Background: Background: Therapeutic horseback riding (THR) has been used to enhance functioning in many individuals with disabilities in Canada and the U.S. for over 40 years, but there are few studies to guide consumers. Children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have social, communication, behavior, emotional, and dependency issues and caregivers struggle to find helpful interventions for these children.
Objectives: Evaluate effects of ten weekly one-hour lessons of a standardized THR treatment approach on three core areas: 1) self-regulation behaviors, 2) adaptive daily living skills, and 3) motor coordination, organization and planning.
Methods: Thirteen children with an ASD received pre- and post-evaluations including the Aberrant Behavior Checklist - Community (ABC-C), Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-II (VABS-II), Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOT-II), and Sensory Integration and Praxis Test (SIPT) within one month prior to and following engagement in 10 weeks of THR lessons. Caregivers and THR therapists completed ratings (ABC-C) of the child’s behaviors on a weekly basis.
Results: For this abstract, pre/post intervention changes were available for 13 participants. All assessments were evaluated by two-tailed t-test with a test of significance set at an alpha of 0.05. Mean age upon enrollment of this group of patients (n=13) was 10.1±3.2 years. The group had an average Leiter IQ of 91.3±22.7. Post intervention changes in VABS-II subscale scores were significant for the Adaptive Total Score (p=0.01) and trended towards significance (i.e. 0.05 <p<0.1) for the Communication raw scores and Daily Living raw scores. BOT-II short form scores demonstrated a significant improvement (p=0.02). Improvements in SIPT verbal praxis scores were noted to be significant (p=0.003) whereas changes in postural praxis scores were not significant. When rated by parents, changes in ABC-C subscale scores for Irritability, Hyperactivity, Lethargy and Stereotypy were found to be significant, but changes in the Inappropriate Speech subscale were not significant. When evaluated by the THR trainer, no significant changes were evident in any of the ABC subscales.
Conclusions: The preliminary data analyses presented above suggest that participation in a well-defined Therapeutic Horseback Riding program of 10 weeks duration can demonstrate a significant improvement in several behavioral and physical parameters. Measures of behavior, adaptive living skills and motor coordination and planning improved statistically over the course of THR. The study is ongoing and additional data will be obtained to corroborate significant changes noted for this group and validate or disprove noted trends. Future work is planned to address additional questions such as length of effect and specificity of therapy.
Objectives: Evaluate effects of ten weekly one-hour lessons of a standardized THR treatment approach on three core areas: 1) self-regulation behaviors, 2) adaptive daily living skills, and 3) motor coordination, organization and planning.
Methods: Thirteen children with an ASD received pre- and post-evaluations including the Aberrant Behavior Checklist - Community (ABC-C), Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-II (VABS-II), Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOT-II), and Sensory Integration and Praxis Test (SIPT) within one month prior to and following engagement in 10 weeks of THR lessons. Caregivers and THR therapists completed ratings (ABC-C) of the child’s behaviors on a weekly basis.
Results: For this abstract, pre/post intervention changes were available for 13 participants. All assessments were evaluated by two-tailed t-test with a test of significance set at an alpha of 0.05. Mean age upon enrollment of this group of patients (n=13) was 10.1±3.2 years. The group had an average Leiter IQ of 91.3±22.7. Post intervention changes in VABS-II subscale scores were significant for the Adaptive Total Score (p=0.01) and trended towards significance (i.e. 0.05 <p<0.1) for the Communication raw scores and Daily Living raw scores. BOT-II short form scores demonstrated a significant improvement (p=0.02). Improvements in SIPT verbal praxis scores were noted to be significant (p=0.003) whereas changes in postural praxis scores were not significant. When rated by parents, changes in ABC-C subscale scores for Irritability, Hyperactivity, Lethargy and Stereotypy were found to be significant, but changes in the Inappropriate Speech subscale were not significant. When evaluated by the THR trainer, no significant changes were evident in any of the ABC subscales.
Conclusions: The preliminary data analyses presented above suggest that participation in a well-defined Therapeutic Horseback Riding program of 10 weeks duration can demonstrate a significant improvement in several behavioral and physical parameters. Measures of behavior, adaptive living skills and motor coordination and planning improved statistically over the course of THR. The study is ongoing and additional data will be obtained to corroborate significant changes noted for this group and validate or disprove noted trends. Future work is planned to address additional questions such as length of effect and specificity of therapy.