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We examined whether different doses of therapeutic riding influenced parent-nominated target behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (a) during the session (b) at home, and (c) in the community. We used a single subject multiple Baseline, multiple case design, with dosing of 1, 3, and 5 times/week. Three boys with ASD, 6-8 years of age participated, and counts of target behaviors were collected in each setting and phase of the study. Compared to Baseline, 70% of the target behaviors were better during Intervention and improvement was retained in 63% of the behaviors during Withdrawal. Increased doses of therapeutic riding were significant for magnitude of change, and the effect of the therapeutic riding sessions generalized to home and community.

We examined motor and tactile-perceptual skills in individuals with high-functioning autism (IHFA) and matched typically developing individuals (TDI) ages 5-21 years. Grip strength, motor speed and coordination were impaired in IHFA compared to matched TDI, and the differences between groups varied with age. Although tactile-perceptual skills of IHFA were impaired compared to TDI on several measures, impairments were significant only for stereognosis. Motor and tactile-perceptual skills should be assessed in children with IHFA and intervention should begin early because these skills are essential to school performance. Impairments in coordination and stereognosis suggest a broad though selective under-development of the circuitry for higher order abilities regardless of domain that is important in the search for the underlying disturbances in neurological development.

Participation is an indicator of healthy functioning and well-being, as emphasized by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (World Health Organization, 2001). The Activity Card Sort (ACS) is a valid and reliable assessment tool that measures participation. This study describes the process of developing the Arab heritage version of the ACS (A-ACS). The original ACS was translated to Arabic using World Health Organization forward-backward translation guidelines, and activities that are common in Arab cultures were nominated using the ACS investigators' guidelines. Participant respondents were 156 Jordanians, from different age groups and socioeconomic classes. The process initially yielded 179 activities common to all international versions of the ACS, 19 of which were unique to the Arab culture. Eighty-eight items were validated for the A-ACS. The A-ACS validated in this study is the first assessment tool, for Arab adults whose heritage is in the Middle-East and North Africa, that measures participation. We expect the tool to have excellent clinical utility not only in Arab countries, but also for immigrants and citizens of Arab origins worldwide.

We examined whether different doses of therapeutic riding influenced parent-nominated target behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (a) during the session (b) at home, and (c) in the community. We used a single subject multiple Baseline, multiple case design, with dosing of 1, 3, and 5 times/week. Three boys with ASD, 6-8 years of age participated, and counts of target behaviors were collected in each setting and phase of the study. Compared to Baseline, 70% of the target behaviors were better during Intervention and improvement was retained in 63% of the behaviors during Withdrawal. Increased doses of therapeutic riding were significant for magnitude of change, and the effect of the therapeutic riding sessions generalized to home and community. Keywords Autism spectrum disorder * Single subject design * Home * Community, Introduction While hippotherapy, equine-facilitated psychotherapy, and therapeutic riding have therapeutic use of horses in common, there are distinct differences. In general, hippotherapy tends to focus on posture, balance, and mobility. [...]

We examined motor and tactile-perceptual skills in individuals with high-functioning autism (IHFA) and matched typically developing individuals (TDI) ages 5-21 years. Grip strength, motor speed and coordination were impaired in IHFA compared to matched TDI, and the differences between groups varied with age. Although tactile-perceptual skills of IHFA were impaired compared to TDI on several measures, impairments were significant only for stereognosis. Motor and tactile-perceptual skills should be assessed in children with IHFA and intervention should begin early because these skills are essential to school performance. Impairments in coordination and stereognosis suggest a broad though selective underdevelopment of the circuitry for higher order abilities regardless of domain that is important in the search for the underlying disturbances in neurological development. Keywords Autism * Motor skills * Coordination * Strength * Tactile-perceptual skills * Stereognosis, Introduction Impairments in motor and tactile-perceptual skills are not diagnostic criteria for autism, but they do manifest as delays, deficits and sensitivities in individuals with autism (American Psychiatric Association [APA] [...]

Purpose: We examined the hypotheses that a comprehensive method for categorizing specific brain regions impaired by stroke is feasible and that this method may be used to explore associations between [...]