Can We Talk About Horses? An Investigation of the Impact of Equine-Assisted Activities and Therapy on the Frequency of Verbalization for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the parents’ perception regarding the clinical effectiveness of equine-assisted activities and therapy (EAAT) on increasing the frequency of verbalizations by children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The participants of this study included the parents and guardians of children between the ages of six years old and 12 years old who are currently or have previously participated in EAAT at a PATH International Center within the East North Central Census region (i.e., Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, & Wisconsin). Major conclusions of this research include the findings that participants reported changes in their child’s spoken language following EAAT and the changes cannot be attributed to EAAT. One implication is that while intervention broadly appears to impact spoken language in children with EAAT, further research is needed to determine which intervention/s led to the observed changes