Alternative Learning Environments: Parents' Experiences of Long-Term Equine Assisted Therapy for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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) have been voiced as a therapy that can be beneficial to those who have difficulty coping with school. Expanding a limited evidence-based the aim of this study was to seek parental perspectives on their child's experience of long-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.