A Comparison of Three Equine-Assisted Services for People with Motor Speech Disorders

<p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" class="first" dir="auto" id="d3586281e60"> <b>Abstract</b> <p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" dir="auto" id="d3586281e65">This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of three types of Equine-Assisted Services (EAS) on the coordination of speech in individuals with motor speech disorders. Diadochokinetic (DDK) rates were measured by timing ten repetitions of four different syllables immediately before and after three different interventions: a classic hippotherapy session, defined as horse movement without intervention, a therapeutic/adapted riding session, horse movement during a recreational activity, and a speech therapy session incorporating hippotherapy, horse movement during skilled therapy. The findings revealed that DDK rates decreased following each type of EAS. Notably, classic hippotherapy, and therapeutic/adapted riding sessions produced statistically similar results, while the speech therapy sessions incorporating hippotherapy showed effects that were ten times more statistically significant. These results suggest that the movement of a walking horse facilitates improved speech coordination in individuals with motor speech disorders regardless of type of EAS. However, for optimal outcomes, integrating skilled speech-language pathology intervention with hippotherapy is the preferred EAS for people with dysarthria. <p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" dir="auto" id="d3586281e67"> <b>Bio</b> <p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" dir="auto" id="d3586281e72"> <b>Beth Macauley, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, HPCS, FNAP, ACUE </b> <p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" dir="auto" id="d3586281e77">Dr. Beth Macauley is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, MI. She holds a BA, MA, and PhD in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Florida, with a specialization in neurogenic communication disorders. She is the only speech-language pathologist with both a PhD and clinical specialty certification in hippotherapy (HPCS) who is actively engaged in research, teaching, and clinical practice. Dr. Macauley is a well-respected leader in the field of equine-assisted services and therapy. She has delivered over 100 presentations across 15 countries, sharing her expertise in speech-language pathology and hippotherapy with a global audience. <p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" dir="auto" id="d3586281e79"/>