Effects of Equine Therapy on Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review

Srinivasan, S. M. and Cavagnino, D. T. and Bhat, A. N.

Rev J Autism Dev Disord (2018) 5: 156–175

DOI: 10.1007/s40489-018-0130-z

Abstract

Literature on effects of equine therapy in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has grown in recent times. Equine therapy is an alternative multimodal intervention that involves utilizing a horse to enhance core impairments in ASD. Recent systematic reviews in this area have several limitations including inclusion of populations other than ASD, assessment of a variety of animal-assisted interventions other than equine therapy, and a failure to conduct quantitative analyses to provide accurate effect size estimates. We conducted a focused systematic review to address these limitations. Our review suggested that equine therapy has beneficial effects on behavioral skills and to some extent on social communication in ASD. The evidence for positive effects of equine therapy on perceptuo-motor, cognitive, and functional skills is currently limited.

Citation

Srinivasan, S. M., Cavagnino, D. T., & Bhat, A. N. (2018). Effects of Equine Therapy on Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review. Rev J Autism Dev Disord, 5(2), 156–175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40489-018-0130-z behavior, autism, hippotherapy, Equine therapy, social communication, states that there is no conflict of interest., therapeutic horseback riding

Keywords

• behavior
• autism
• hippotherapy
• Equine therapy
• social communication
• states that there is no conflict of interest.
• therapeutic horseback riding