Alternative Learning Environments: Parents Experiences of Long-term Equine Assisted Therapy for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) attend mainstream education settings to facilitate inclusive practice; yet can struggle within these settings. Equine Assisted Therapies (EAT) has been voiced as a therapy that can be beneficial to those who have difficulty coping with school. Expanding a limited evidence-base the aim of this study was to seek parental perspectives on their child’s experience of longer-term EAT. Semi structured interviews were conducted with five mothers and one father of three males and two females with ASD; of these children only one remained in mainstream education, one attended a special education setting and three were home-schooled. An interpretative phenomenological analysis on the data elicited two superordinate themes: EAT as a lifeline; and Alternative learning. Contrasting with more negative experiences derived from education settings which often failed to meet their child’s needs, the findings highlighted how the EAT process and environment provided a secure and safe context for children to learn new skills, enabling them to flourish and, for some, find a more hopeful future which had previously seemed unattainable. In this context, parents accessed some respite in their caring roles, enhancing their own wellbeing.