Learning of positions in hippotherapy by children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD)

• Autor(a) principal: de Oliveira Barbosa, Gardenia
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Outros Autores: Munster, Mey de Abreu van
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista Educação Especial (UFSM)
• Texto Completo: http://periodicos.ufsm.br/educacaoespecial/article/view/32575
• topic: Special Education; Hippotherapy; Autism.; Educación Especial; Hipoterapia; Autismo.; Educação Especial; Equoterapia; Autismo.

The study analyzed the levels of physical-verbal assistance, visual-verbal assistance, and verbal communication in the process of learning positions in hippotherapy by children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The research method was based on a single subject design, type AB, involving three children with ASD with ages between four and nine years. Participants were submitted to 31 individual sessions of hippotherapy, during four months, twice a week. Instruments used for data collection were: 1. Anamnesis filled in with parents or guardians; 2. Protocol for Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities (ABLA); 3. Field diary; 4. Daily recording checklist for each of the aids used during each session of hippotherapy. Descriptive analysis regarding the evolution of each participant was used. At the end of the intervention it was observed that all participants were able to perform all positions with exclusively verbal assistance. The learning process was mediated by visual-verbal and physical-verbal aids with the latter being more predominant. Thus, levels and types of aid needed to learn positioning will vary according to the individual needs of child with ASD, and there is no single efficient type of method; however, it is observed that the association of stimuli in a directed way can lead to success in the child's learning.