INTRODUCTION
Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a sub category of a larger disorder category called Pervasive Developmental Disorders (ET). It is principally characterized by deficits in social, communication, and motor skill functions. Similar to Asperger’s, Autism is a developmental disorder that includes both verbal and non-verbal communication impairments, along with hyper focus on one or sometimes both the areas of repetitive speech patterns, lack of social awareness and clumsiness. In the past and continuing present, typical treatments for ASD primarily focus on improvement and behavior modification. While medication is prescribed to control severe symptoms such as hyperactivity or seizures, there are no known cures for autism. (Therapeutic) There are only methods aimed towards lessening symptoms.
However, research into a fairly new treatment called equine assisted therapy, is beginning to show signs of promise. Equine assisted therapy is a type of animal assisted therapy, a field of mental health that acknowledges the bond between horses and humans. It acknowledges the potential for mental healing that can occur when a relationship is formed between the two species, among other benefits as well (Therapeutic). It involves equine activities organized and facilitated by a licensed mental health professional, often with the assistance of a horse professional. These activities are most often completed on the ground and include such things as grooming, feeding, haltering and leading the horse. During the therapy session with the horse, the therapist and participant partake in talk psychotherapy, processing emotions, behaviors and repetitions. The fundamental objective for the child is to build skills including personal accountability, assertiveness, non-verbal communication, confidence, and self-control (ET) With more studies arising, there has been a growing general consensus that equine assisted therapy is highly beneficial to cognitive, psychological, and social domains (ET). Nevertheless, while some believe that equine assisted therapy has obvious effects, others are pointing out the lack of medical recognition and need for further research and evidence. I believe in equine assisted therapy based on the evidence from various studies that have all proven to have repeated success in their results. This research paper will explore the question: should equine assisted therapy be a medically recognized program for children with ASD?

METHOD
Throughout this research paper a number of studies not identical, but fairly similar to one another were utilized. Each proved to have comparable methods, procedures and results. Typically, each study had the duration of ten to twelve weeks, with sessions two to three times a week and every participant received a pre and post condition assessments in the areas of self-regulation, communication skills, and motor skills (Association). Participants generally ranged in ages no younger than six years old and no older than fifteen. Some studies compare assessments of children’s ASD symptoms who participated in an equine assisted therapy program to those in control groups who did not, while others just measure effectiveness in general. Scales used to measure effectiveness of equine assisted therapy have gotten more consistent throughout the years and have seemed to land on the Gilliam autism rating scale: second edition most currently. The Gilliam scales includes 42 elements that are divided into three sub- scales: stereotyped behaviors, communication, and social interaction (Association). Although, other studies have utilized the Social Responsiveness Scale as well. The Social Responsiveness Scale is a 65 item measure that determines raw scores for five treatment subscales: social awareness, social cognition, social communication, social motivation, and autistic mannerisms (The Effects). It is often paired with a Sensory Profile, a 125 item questionnaire that is administered to parents and teachers. Each question addresses overall social functioning and the degree the children demonstrate them to.
An element I noticed to remain consistent throughout the studies is the actual therapeutic horseback riding sessions and time with the animals themselves. In every study, specially trained horses were used and had health and behavior checks from veterinarians. Every format had key fundamentals to them, focusing primarily on horse care and the relationship between the participant and therapy horse. Each overall session lasted from fifty to seventy minutes each. Every session included multiple phases to combat different ASD symptoms. With slight variation in time, typically the phases begin on the ground, then go on horseback and finally back to the ground again to finish the session. The first phase consists of grooming and hand walking in a group session in the barn or stable. This phase is aimed towards teaching children basic safety rules, teaching knowledge about the horse and give a hands on experience with managing the horse. Although seemingly so simple, children are casually encouraged to follow grooming instructions given by the therapist and also encouraged to interact with horse both verbally and nonverbally, thus addressing attention span and social communication impaired skills (Standardized EAT). Usually around the fifth session, horse back riding is introduced. In one study there was a warm up exercise phase in order to stretch the body in preparation for riding after successfully mounting. But typically, participants learn basic riding elements such as correct position, how to hold reins to guide the horse, mounting and dismounting, walk, trot and stop through an individual session located in an arena or pasture. After successfully learned how and having the coordination to control their horse, children are asked to verbalize commands as well (Social Functioning). After riding is shown to be adequate, children are encouraged to walk horses through cones and over poles to address problem solving skills. This phase does not just consist of riding the horse though, off to the side they are playing games, interacting with therapists. This further builds balance and motor skills, while improving attention and socially relieving participants from solid instruction through the entire session. The last phase gears towards pure socialization on an individual level. Being on the ground again, after untacking the children are encouraged to feed the horse they have spent time with and communicate with them saying, “thank you” and “goodbye” among any other speech they offer (Standardized EAT). This phase also included brief sessions of socialization time with the therapy team as well.
RESULTS
With slight variation in level of effectiveness, each study performed and examined did not fail to produce positive results to produce evidence that symptoms were reduced or lessened by a measurable amount. Whether it was a study performed that compared participants to non participants or did a pre and post evaluation, results especially in motor skills and social functioning were displayed by data to be improved, also showing decreased inattention and imbalance. One of the classic indicators of ASD is fixation with rigid, object oriented routines (Social Functioning). After equine assisted therapy, each study with a Sensory Profile revealed the effect therapy had on the sub scale that defined the ability to break away from their routine, instead of focusing on their constant fixation to complete their routine, children were instead in favor of activities and being active with the horse. This especially led me to believe that Equine assisted therapy is worthy of medical recognition, but others argue otherwise.

DISSCUSSION CONCLUSION