From Stable to STEM and STEAM: Integrating Equine-Assisted Therapy, ICT and Innovative Educational Approaches for ASD

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a wide range of symptoms affecting social communication, interaction, and behavior. Recently, the increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism has challenged the scientific community and schoolteachers to seek out new and effective educational and therapeutic strategies for autistic individuals. Besides conventional therapies, alternative and complementary therapies are becoming more and more a part of special education. Equine-assisted therapy or therapeutic riding is one such non-conventional therapy, which falls under the broader category of animal-assisted therapies. Therapeutic riding features a carefully designed therapeutic interaction of the client with the horse, combining physical exercise of the horse's movement, emotional involvement, and social exchanging which, through providing multisensory experiences, can lead to the development of communication skills, emotional regulation, and social engagement in autistic children. Meanwhile, the swift progress of digital technologies and creative pedagogical methods has not only opened doors for inclusive education but also paved the way for the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), STEM and STEAM learning models, which are being progressively incorporated in schools to give a boost to creativity, problem-solving abilities, and interdisciplinary learning experiences among students with different educational needs. This research delves into the theoretical foundation of ASD and plays out how equine-assisted therapy can work as a complementary intervention for autistic children. It also discusses the possible merging of therapeutic riding with digital technologies and STEM/STEAM educational models that lead to the creation of innovative and acting frameworks capable of supporting autistic children in inclusive educational settings.