Therapeutic Horseback Riding Outcomes of Parent-Identified Goals for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An ABA′ Multiple Case Design Examining Dosing and Generalization to the Home and Community

• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-013-1949-x
• Publication Date: 2013-10-03T10:20:05Z
• Authors: Margo B. Holm; Joanne M. Baird; Young Joo Kim; Kuwar B. Rajora; Delma D’Silva; Lin Podolinsky; Carla Mazefsky; Nancy Minshew
• Keywords: Equine-Assisted Therapy; Male; Parents; 05 social sciences; Generalization, Psychological; Treatment Outcome; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; Humans; 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences; Child; Goals; Sports

We examined whether different doses of therapeutic riding influenced parent-nominated target behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (a) during the session (b) at home, and (c) in the community. We used a single subject multiple Baseline, multiple case design, with dosing of 1, 3, and 5 times/week. Three boys with ASD, 6-8 years of age participated, and counts of target behaviors were collected in each setting and phase of the study. Compared to Baseline, 70% of the target behaviors were better during Intervention and improvement was retained in 63% of the behaviors during Withdrawal. Increased doses of therapeutic riding were significant for magnitude of change, and the effect of the therapeutic riding sessions generalized to home and community.