Collacchi, B.; Pinchaud, N.; Borgi, M.; Cirulli, F. Equine-Assisted Activities (EAAs) for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Positive Effects Revealed Using an Ethological Approach. Appl. Sci.2023, 13, 7417.
Collacchi, B.; Pinchaud, N.; Borgi, M.; Cirulli, F. Equine-Assisted Activities (EAAs) for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Positive Effects Revealed Using an Ethological Approach. Appl. Sci. 2023, 13, 7417.
Collacchi, B.; Pinchaud, N.; Borgi, M.; Cirulli, F. Equine-Assisted Activities (EAAs) for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Positive Effects Revealed Using an Ethological Approach. Appl. Sci.2023, 13, 7417.
Collacchi, B.; Pinchaud, N.; Borgi, M.; Cirulli, F. Equine-Assisted Activities (EAAs) for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Positive Effects Revealed Using an Ethological Approach. Appl. Sci. 2023, 13, 7417.
Abstract
Equine Assisted Activities (EAA) are considered a suitable innovative rehabilitative practice for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). While standardized scales have been previously used as a tool to evaluate the effects of EAA on different domains of functioning in ASD children, few studies have considered an ethological approach as a means to describe human-horse interactions in the context of ASD. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the behaviour of 19 children with ASD - in comparison with 19 typically developing children (TD) - during EAA sessions. We developed an ethogram from the video-recordings, to assess spatial relationships, social interactions and communicative behaviours displayed by the child towards the horse, as well as the occurrence of problem behaviours. Results indicate that children’s behaviours during EAA sessions are modulated by sex and age, while previous children’s experience with EAA appeared to improve interpersonal distance and horse handling. Results from this study highlight the importance of exploring children's behavioural response during animal-assisted activities through direct measurements. This may allow linking the quality/strength of the child-horse relationship to the benefits obtained by the child, particularly in the social/communicative domain, a core symptom of ASD.
Keywords
Equine-assisted activities; Autism spectrum disorder; Ethogram; Social interactions; Communicative behaviours; Problem behaviours
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
