Equine-assisted activities (EAA) have emerged as a new method of treatment for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in recent years. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of EAA in the areas of social functioning, autistic behaviours, family functioning, and clinical severity for children diagnosed with ASD. The participants were 24 children (4-12 years old) diagnosed with ASD and their mothers. Subjects were randomized into two groups, and the programme consisted of eight sessions of EAA. A social communication questionnaire and clinical global impression scale were used to evaluate the severity of autistic behaviours, and family assessment device was used for family functioning, while the Beck Depression Inventory was used to evaluate the severity of maternal depression. The results suggested that the severity of ASD decreases and improvements in maternal mental health and family functioning were observed in the experimental group, while no significant results were observed in the control group. This study provided preliminary evidence that an eight-week EAA can provide significant improvements in terms of both family and child functioning for children diagnosed with ASD. Further studies in larger samples are needed to investigate these effects. KEY WORDS autism spectrum disorder, equine-assisted activity, maternal mental health ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC PAPER

In present study, it is indicated that developmental language trajectories are different in ASD and DLD group. Children, who are diagnosed with ASD, have more receptive language difficulties while children, who are diagnosed with DLD, have more language difficulties in expressive language area. The finding, children who are diagnosed with DLD have more autistic symptoms, shows that autistic symptoms are related with language development, and it is very important to give preference to language education in the treatment.

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