Bu çalışmadaki amaç Otizm Spektrum Bozukluğu

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectof therapeutic horseback riding on the quality oflife and motor performance in children diagnosed withautism spectrum disorder. For this purpose, 12 children(5 girls and 7 boys) diagnosed with autism spectrumdisorder between the ages of 8 and 13 (Meanage ? Sd:9.66 ? 1.61) were participated to the study. They joinedan 8-week and 1-hour session per week therapeutichorseback riding training. The assessment of qualityof life and motor performance measurements duringarm reaching movements were performed one daybefore and one day after the therapeutic horsebackriding training sessions. To assess the quality of life,the pediatric quality of life scale parent form was used.We assessed the two sub-dimensions of that scale, thetotal of physical health and psychosocial health. For themotor performance measurements, children were askedto reach a target with either hand and upper extremitykinematics during their reaching movements wererecorded in horizontal plane. Accuracy in pointing andhand linearity were two parameters to assess motorperformance in children. Only four children participatedin the motor performance tests. The statistical analysisshowed improvements on the quality of life followingthe 8-week therapeutic horseback riding training. Eventhough there was an improvement in the motor performancetest from the pre- to post-test, this improvementdid not reach the significant level. Therapeutic horsebackriding is therefore recommended as an alternative rehabilitationtreatment for the children diagnosed with autismspectrum disorder.