4STEP - Therapuetic Riding & Equine Assisted Mental Health Programs for Central PA

Autism

Today 1 in 110 children are diagnosed with autism and it is the fastest growing developmental disability. Lifelong costs can be reduced by 2/3 by early diagnosis and intervention. Read more here...

How does Therapeutic Riding benefit this population?
Therapeutic Riding addresses several key symptoms of autism which include: communication and social skills, sensory skills, motor skills, response to verbal cues, and responses to external stimuli. Because horses are companion animals they seek to understand their riders and seek to be understood. Horses tune in with their riders and are aware of the smallest movements and feelings like anxiety, happiness, excited, sad all because they are experts in reading body language. It is because of their love, trust, desire to please and acute awareness of their riders that horses are able to build a bond with an autistic child.

Children will learn to give cues to the horse and will realize that the horses respond immediatly. This will cause the child to focus on something external in the environment, which can be monumental for a child on the autism spectrum.
The child's communication skills will also be enhanced. There are verbal cues to which a horse responds and throughout the session the child will be around instructors and volunteers from which they will be recieving verbal cues.

Throughout the sessions the child will begin to build a relationship with their horse, as well as getting exercise, enjoying the outdoor and just having a whole lot of fun!

How does EAMH benefit this population?
In EAMH, activities are set up that will require the individual, family or group to apply skills and creates an environment to learn and experiment with new skills. With the symptoms and issues that arise with children on the autism spectrum, particularly those with Aspergers and PDD, EAMH can address and develop the skills identified as 'social skills' - nonverbal communication, assteriveness, problem solving and felxiblity, teamwork and relationships and confidence. When our participants find and practice the skills that obtain the results that they like or enjoy in the areana, they will gain confidence to then apply those skills out in the real world.

Preparing to ride

See the excitement?

Symptoms of Autism
Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically begins to show itself in a child’s first three years. This neurological disorder inhibits the development of social interaction and communication skills.

Autism symptoms vary highly from person to person, but usually include a combination of the following traits:

Insistence on sameness; resistance to change
Difficulty in expressing needs, using gestures or pointing instead of words
Repeating words or phrases in place of normal, responsive language
Laughing (and/or crying) for no apparent reason showing distress for reasons not apparent to others
Preference to being alone; aloof manner
Tantrums
Difficulty in mixing with others
Not wanting to cuddle or be cuddled
Little or no eye contact
Unresponsive to normal teaching methods
Sustained odd play
Spinning objects
Obsessive attachment to objects
Apparent over-sensitivity or under-sensitivity to pain
No real fears of danger
Noticeable physical over-activity or extreme under-activity
Uneven gross/fine motor skills
Non responsive to verbal cues; acts as if deaf, although hearing tests in normal range.

Helpful Links

Autism Society of America

Autism Speaks

Autism and PDD Support Network

Parents of Autistic Kids (P.A.K.)

If you know of any websites or community resources that have been particularly helpful to you and your family, please email info@4StepGivingHope.org

COMMUNITY RESOURCES

Juniata River Center - providing behavioral specialist, mobil therapy and TSS services, the State College Autism School, Stepping Stones 717-248-8540
The Meadows/UCBH - Universal Community Behavioral Health - providing behavioral specialist, mobil therapy and TSS services. 814-353-3151
TIU - Tuscarora Intermediate Unit 814-542-2501 or 717-899-7143

Words from our Parents

Terri M. generously shared with us some of her thoughts on how 4STEP is benefiting her son, John:

"Children with Autism work very hard to improve, maintain and learn new skills, every small step is equal to a milestone in a typical child's life and deserves to be celebrated. If you can make learning FUN they will look forward to, and hopefully not ever realize they are working. When you accomplish this (and Equine Therapy does accomplish this) it serves several purposes - they enjoy and get to have a childhood, they have events to look forward to and successes to celebrate and we keep their world from getting small. Riding horses @ 4STEP is a very important and FUN part of John's week... we all look forward to it and watching him enjoy learning and succeeding is so rewarding to me as a Mom!"

"John struggles with sensory issues and the helmet is a major problem, he accepts it once he is up on Pidge, but getting it on is always a challenge. Twyla suggested using one at home -- she even, generously, lent one of the older ones to us -- we put it on and ride him around like a "horse" at home...this is helping him adjust to the idea and accept that it must be worn. He continues to struggle with it, but he improves every week!"

"John actually threw a ball last week -- what a good idea Twyla had -- throwing the ball down into laundry baskets. We are going to do this at home as well. I always come away with an idea I can implement at home to encourage to help John improve his skills."

"4STEP is one of the most important parts of TEAM JOHN -- we all enjoy coming for lessons and see improvement each and every week!"

Autism is Not the Definition of Your Child

Terri comments on an article and gives a realistic picture of what

loving a child, who has been diagnosed with autism, is like.

I am not a fan of Oprah, but a newsletter I subscribe to sent the link to this article and it is really good. If you are interested in some insight into the world of Autism and you have a few minutes check it out. Robert Nassef who is mentioned in the article and the author of the newsletter I receive is a gentleman I saw at a conference I went to right after moving to PA.

http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/200909-omag-autism-moms

The points that really hit me are:

"Continuous greiving process" -- that is so true, you are forever divided with loving the child you have and greiving the child you thought you would have. It is all part of the fear for their future.

You must find a way to maintain your sense of humor -- even if it is a bit odd sometimes compared to others.

Hugs -- OH MY GOODNESS -- I can't tell you what they mean. I've been working with John for YEARS -- yep YEARS on hugs (he has consistently and regularly given kisses). I'm sure he gets tired of me saying "wrap arms around and squeeze" while I make him do it. HOWEVER -- He started hugging me MONDAY -- YEP MONDAY, August 24th, 2009 and I got 8 hugs that night. It is now 3 days later and I have gotten so many hugs that I am losing count -- two just this morning when I woke him up for school. Each hug seems sweeter than the last because he is doing it over and over and showing me that it is now a skill he has and one more thing that allows him some form of communication with the world. Plus, hugs from your baby are just awesome!!! What do I learn from this -- patience, patience, patience and NEVER EVER, NEVER EVER give up!

"Enjoy your child more" and "do less" -- simple and yet so important, I am guilty of getting on the treadmill of therapy and treatment and never getting off, you feel like you are fighting a WAR -- BUT this isn't a war or a race but more of a marathon and it is important to pace yourself (I have to remind myself of this often) ... It is so important to remember that your Autistic Child is still a child. Tough to balance your battle while allowing yourself time to just be and have fun.

I do not believe Autism is a definition of John -- he is charming, loving, sweet, kind, laid-back, non-judgemental, honest, 'in-the-moment", fun, resiliant, athletic and he has the most sincere, easy smile I have ever seen (we worked hard for that too, but I am rewarded each and every time he smiles and I am in a unique position of NEVER taking even one of those smiles for granted.). He is many more wonderful things and my list of adjectives goes on and on -- My point is John is ALL these terrific things and they define him -- he is who he is in-spite of Autism not because of it and he is fighting it with me, we are a team, we are in this together and not against each other. John is emerging and I believe his potential is as endless and unknown as any other child's. Don't get me wrong -- one of my favorite slogans or mantras is "DOWN WITH AUTISM" and if I could kick it out of our lives I would, but I would never ever trade John, so if I have to live with Autism to have John, so be it -- I am fortunate and lucky to be John's Mommy and I am extremely proud of him and how he embraces the world each day. I know that John teaches me much more than I could ever teach him.

It isn't all hard, tough and difficult (much of it is, I am tougher than I thought, we are exhausted and the battles rage on), but there are also VICTORIES -- each and every smile, expression, giggle, HUG, following an instruction, playing (puzzles, starfall.com, playdough, bowling) or even, on occasion, communicating with me using words or a word is a VICTORY!!!

Enjoy your child and let your them enjoy their childhood -- very important for Autistic children, but then again, very important for ALL children -- maybe we aren't so different after all?
If you got this far AND/OR read the article I thank you for caring enough about us to take the time -- I didn't intend to go on and on, just thought it was a wonderful article and wanted to share. Maybe it will brighten your day, make you smile and remind you that there is always HOPE! I sincerely hope so. ~ Terri M.

Riding off into the sunset