Research on the Efficacy and Application of Equestrian-Assisted Intervention for Children with Autism

Abstract

: This research aims to discuss the efficacy and application effect of equestrian-assisted intervention for children with autism. Forty cases of children with autism collected from the School of Public Health, Zhejiang University between March 2020 and May 2022 were selected as the subjects of this study and randomly divided into Observation Group (OG) and Control Group(CG), 20 cases in each group. Children in CG were treated with conventional treatment methods such as non-verbal communication, social-emotional communication and attention training in the ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) rehabilitation center for six months. The other children in OG were treated with equestrian sports-assisted intervention for six months in addition to the conventional treatment strategies in CG. The frequency of sessions was set to 3 times per week, and the duration of each session was set to 1 hour. The intervention effects of the two groups were compared and analyzed by the end of the six-month treatment. Before the intervention, there was no significant difference in the ATEC scores between the two groups (P>0.05). With different treatments, the ATEC scores in both groups decreased after 3 months and 6 months of intervention, compared with those before the intervention. However, the ATEC scores of OG were significantly lower than those of CG, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). Before the intervention, there was no significant difference in the SRS and CP-GMFQ scores between the two groups (P>0.05). With different treatments, the SRS and CP-GMFQ scores of children in both groups decreased after 3 months and 6 months of intervention, compared with those before the intervention. The SRS and CP-GMFQ scores of children in the two groups were not significantly different after 3 months of intervention (P>0.05), but the SRS and CP-GMFQ scores of children in OG was significantly lower than that of CG after 6-month intervention, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). The assisted intervention of equestrian is an advanced treatment. With the systematic animal-assisted intervention, the social and communication, motor function and cognition level of children with ASD have been significantly improved, as well as the imitation ability. It can be seen that the rehabilitation of children with autism has achieved excellent efficacy with the equestrian-assisted intervention.