HIPPO Therapy

On July 11th we began the boys on a new therapy called HIPPO therapy. No, it doesn't involve hippopotamus', although that would be pretty cool too, it is a type of speech and/or occupational therapy that is done on horseback.

Toward the end of Joshua's early intervention therapy his therapist, Jenn, recommended HIPPO therapy as a form of treatment that she felt would not only help strengthen Joshua's core, but also help his speech develop clearly. She also felt it would be great for Ethan as well...having been around him with Joshua's home therapy, and knowing that children with Asperger really do well with this kind of therapy.

So, we did an evaluation through HorseTalk Hippotherapy with Toby Freeman, in Bedford. She does in-office speech therapy at her Bedford office, but the actual HIPPO therapy is done in Bow, NH at an indoor arena that she rents specifically for this therapy.

The boys absolutely LOVE it! It's amazing to see how different they are on the horse. For Josh, it slows him down, and I can clearly hear him see, "Hi Mama, I ride the horse!" every single time he goes by me. For Ethan, he has finally been able to identify smells. For the first time, while on the horse, he said the words, "I don't like that, it stinks!", when they were trying to get him to blow a bubble with that really smelly goo-on-a-stick stuff. Then, this past Saturday he commented on the smell of the pancakes that Mike made for breakfast by going into the kitchen and saying, "Mmmm, that smells good daddy!". He even commented on the stink he makes in the bathroom now...again, he's never commented on any smells...ever!

Anyway, they enjoy their half hour on the horse...pictured below are the boys riding Summer...a beautiful horse.

Joshua with Miss. Toby his speech therapist, riding Summer the Horse

Ethan with Miss Toby, his speech therapist, also riding Summer the horse.