Exposing Kids with ASD to Horses

mom a picture of Bucky to show him and he displayed excitement and an interest in the idea of being able to ride Bucky. I quickly arranged for Ara and his sister Merry to ride one warm Saturday afternoon under the guidance of Amanda Witherspoon from Gentle Strides Therapeutic Riding stables in the town of Santa Paula California. Amanda is an instructor who works with children through Bucky.
I knew this would be a risk as Ara has a history of behavioural excesses. He can be difficult to guide difficult around his sister and he has a sharp and discerning intellect making him not easily captivated. The transformation was astounding. Ara became temperate compliant and engaged in the experience. There were so many desirable outcomes displayed by Ara that we look for when working with an autistic child including
Perspective Taking While brushing Bucky Ara noticed a chestnut on the inner side of Buckys leg and asked if it would hurt Bucky if he brushed over it.
Generalization of an Activity Ara who was not normally keen on interacting with his younger sister asked Merry for her assistance with carrying a heavy saddle. He then cautioned her to keep a wide arc when walking behind Bucky and made an arc out of straw to give her a visual guide to ascertain her safe distance from Buckys legs.
Intraverbals Ara engaged in conversational exchanges.
Mands Ara requested information about the parts of the saddle he was curious about. He also called out his direction preferences while riding.
Tacting After learning the parts of the saddle Ara spontaneously tacted labeled them himself.
Echoics Ara repeated the instructions that Amanda delivered.
Theory of Mind Ara wondered aloud about Buckys perspective on the taste of hay.
Behavioural Regulation Ara was calm throughout the experience.
As I watched Aras transformation throughout his interaction with Bucky all I could think about was how I wish someone with research curiosity and capability would study the impact of equinerelated activities on children with ASD. In the study of autism and ASD we are compelled to use evidencebased practices where the evidence is generated by research. Unfortunately the questions formulated for the research are not often consumer based. In consequence we need to look more to the subjects that inspire the research to help us frame the experimental processes. There needs to be an appropriate context relevant to the subject in order to see results and an emergence of