A equoterapia no desenvolvimento do sujeito com Síndrome de Down - um estudo de caso em Santa Maria - RS

Abstract

This undergraduate thesis adresses horse-assisted therapy as central in the development of the subject with Down Syndrome. The use of horse as mediator in therapeutic activities has increased in recente years, bringing benefits to its practitioners, both physical /motor and psychosocial. This thesis has as research problem the following question: In what way can the use of horse-assisted therapy subserve the development, coordination and concentration of a person with Down Syndrome, in the city of Santa Maria, Brazil? As general objective, the intention is to investigate the use of horseassisted therapy in the development, coordination and concentration of a subject with Down Syndrome. And, as specific objectives, it was verified if concentration of the subject with Down Syndrome happens as a result to horse-assisted therapy through the movements of the horse's gait. This undergraduate thesis also addresses how the therapy might help the coordination of those individuals. The research was carried out based ona case study of a Down Syndrome subject who is 25 yeas old and resident of Santa Maria city. The instrument used for data collection was interviews. Two subjects were invited to be part of the research and interviewed, being them the Down Syndrome student’s mom and psychologist. This thesis concludes that the work developed with the use os horseassisted therapy brings a significant progress in general development to the subject with Down Syndrome and, mainly, it is observed that there is improvement in the coordination and concentration of the subject.