Abstract
The goal of the present study was to examine the effect of equine-assisted therapy (EAT) on visual-motor integration (VMI) in adolescent autism spectrum disorders (ASD). EAT was applied to eleven-year-old boy with ASD. The boy was attending in Cognitive Neuroscience unit of Human Development Academic Research, Mahidol University. The equine-assisted therapy sessions took place for twice a week in a period of four weeks. The boy’s examinations were conducted in the baseline, middle, and end of four weeks’ treatment and in a follow-up session one month after. Data at fourth week demonstrated positive changes, with improvements continuing one month after the session’s completion, as measured by Test of Visual-Motor Integration (Beery VMI). The improvement reported was in visual perception, motor coordination and visual-motor coordination. Interestingly, Equine-assisted therapy may not only be an efficient therapeutic method of improving visual-motor integration, but may also have a positive effect on perceived communication, planning, memory, and reducing self-stimulatory behaviours, all of which may lead to elevate attention in classroom in children with ASD. Therefore, the result showed the promising trend to be an alternative strategy to ASD therapeutic.
Author Information
Paranan Chorachit, Mahidol University, Thailand
Panadda Thanasetkorn, Mahidol University, Thailand
Nootchanart Ruksri, Mahidol University, Thailand
Kannika Permpoonpattana, Mahidol University, Thailand
Vasunun Chumchua, Mahidol University, Thailand
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