Paarden als redmiddel? Nieuw onderzoek werpt eerste licht op therapie met assistentie van paarden voor kinderen met leerstoornissen, met gemengde resultaten
Kunnen paarden de levenskwaliteit van kinderen met leerstoornissen verbeteren? Een recent onderzoek werpt een eerste blik op Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy (EAT) voor deze specifieke groep kinderen, maar roept op tot voorzichtigheid. De vraag blijft: slaan we een nieuwe weg in, naar veelbelovende maar nog onbekende behandelingen of houden we vast aan het vertrouwde pad dat onvoldoende lijkt te helpen?
De zoektocht naar hulp:
Stel je voor dat je een prijzig geneesmiddel koopt bij de apotheker, in de hoop dat het jouw specifieke klachten kan verlichten. Je zou willen weten of het werkt, toch? Hetzelfde geldt ook voor psychologische behandeltrajecten, maar helaas haalt de praktijk soms het wetenschappelijk onderzoek in. Zo worden dan therapieën aangeboden en aangeraden voordat er wetenschappelijk bewijs is dat ze echt werken. Dit was het geval voor de therapeutische benadering bij kinderen met leerstoornissen met assistentie van paarden, bekend als EAT.
Tekortschietende bekende benadering:
“Waarom zoeken naar iets nieuws, als er behandelingen zijn?”, kan u nu denken. Wel, daar loopt het nu net mis. Veel kinderen met leerstoornissen, zoals dyslexie en dyscalculie, hebben niet alleen moeite met lezen, schrijven of rekenen. Ze voelen zich vaak ook eenzaam, (faal)angstig en onbegrepen, iets wat over het hoofd wordt gezien in de traditionele behandelingen.
Vooral nu, in een tijd waarin gelijke leerkansen en ondersteuning voor kinderen een cruciaal onderwerp zijn en veel aandacht krijgen, werpt de therapie met assistentie van paarden een nieuw licht op hoe we deze kinderen kunnen helpen. Tenminste, dat is wat beperkt onderzoek, dat positieve resultaten heeft laten zien bij andere groepen mensen, doet vermoeden. Maar de grote vraag blijft: "Hoe zou dat dan precies werken?". (Foto door Pragyan Bezbaruah op Pexels)
Het paardenmiddel:
De antwoorden op deze vraag zijn vergelijkbaar met de informatie die u kan vinden in de bijsluiter van een medicijn. In deze studie nam men het ‘paardenmiddel’ onder de loep, ofwel therapie met assistentie van paarden. Deze therapievorm valt onder de brede noemer van 'Animal-Assisted Interventions'. Hierbij volgen gediplomeerde klinisch psychologen een aanvullende opleiding in therapeutisch werken met paarden. Er worden bestaande psychologische behandelmethoden gebruikt, maar met een unieke twist: er wordt een paard betrokken. Hoewel ‘paardentherapie’ populairder wordt en al aangeboden wordt als behandeling, was er tot nu toe geen wetenschappelijk onderzoek dat ons vertelde hoe effectief het is bij kinderen met leerstoornissen. Deze studie heeft daar verandering in gebracht, met opmerkelijke resultaten.
De proef op de som:
Deze resultaten bekwam men uit bevragingen van 27 lagereschoolkinderen met leerstoornissen die samen met een ouder deelnamen. Sommigen volgden EAT, anderen kregen ook of alleen logopedie, en enkele kinderen reden bovendien paard. Zij werden vervolgens in twee groepen verdeeld: een groep die EAT volgde en een groep die dat niet deed.
Aan ieder kind werd bij het begin en einde van de studie gevraagd hoe het zichzelf zag op vlak van wiskunde en taal (zelfconcept), of het graag voor school werkte en waarom (zelfregulatie) en of het zich sociaal en emotioneel goed in zijn vel voelde op school. De ouders kregen op beide momenten dan weer vragen over waarom zij dachten dat hun kind voor school werkt (zelfregulatie), hoe ze hun kind zijn sociale en emotionele skills inschatten (sociaal-emotioneel functioneren) en hoe goed het kan plannen en structureren (executief functioneren).
Opvallend is dat het onderzoek dus niet keek naar lees- en rekenvaardigheden, maar juist naar sociaal-emotionele aspecten die vaak over het hoofd worden gezien.
Resultaten brengen een dubbel verhaal
Van twijfel naar zelfvertrouwen
In eerste instantie voelden kinderen die therapie met assistentie van paarden volgden, zich minder bekwaam in wiskunde. Maar dit gevoel verdween na verloop van tijd. De verbetering was wel niet groot genoeg om met zekerheid te zeggen dat EAT hier verantwoordelijk voor was. Sommige van deze kinderen kregen namelijk ook logopedie, wat ook invloed kan hebben gehad. Misschien hebben ze tijdens de logopedie ook wiskunde geoefend en zijn ze dáárdoor zelfverzekerder geworden. Wat betreft hun vermogen om te plannen en organiseren, meldden alle ouders, ongeacht of hun kinderen paardentherapie kregen of niet, geen problemen. Ook hier kan de logopedie geholpen hebben.
Maar er is meer aan de hand…
Motivatie voor schoolwerk: een alarmbel
Uit de resultaten viel namelijk op dat de kinderen in de EAT-groep minder gemotiveerd waren en bleven om voor school te werken. Dit luidt de alarmbel over mogelijke nog ongekende negatieve gevolgen en suggereert dat er misschien ongewenste effecten zijn als we proberen wiskunde- of taaloefeningen te koppelen aan hun interesse in paardrijden of paarden. Of was dit gewoon toeval? Deze vragen en bemerkingen benadrukken in ieder geval waarom het zo belangrijk is om onderzoek te doen en ook de mogelijke bijwerkingen van een behandeling te begrijpen.
Sociaal-emotionele groei: een positieve noot
Anderzijds leken de kinderen die EAT volgden dan weer wel positieve veranderingen te ervaren, vooral op het gebied van het begrijpen van hun gevoelens en sociale interacties. Ouders merkten namelijk op dat hun kinderen die therapie met assistentie van paarden volgden, na verloop van tijd beter werden in het omgaan met vrienden en het inleven in andermans standpunten. Het is belangrijk om deze positieve aspecten verder te onderzoeken in de toekomst, omdat ze kunnen bijdragen aan ons begrip van hoe de therapie kan helpen.
De weg vooruit:
In de zoektocht naar de beste zorg voor kinderen met leerstoornissen biedt therapie met assistentie van paarden zowel hoop als vragen. Het beperkte onderzoek tot nu toe werpt licht op mogelijke voordelen, maar roept ook zorgen op over mogelijke negatieve effecten. Net zoals bij medicijnen is het belangrijk om een 'bijsluiter' te voorzien voor ouders, hulpverleners en kinderen die alternatieve therapieën overwegen. En daarvoor is meer onderzoek nodig.
Laten we wel voorzichtig zijn en ons bewust blijven van de beperkingen van het huidige onderzoek voordat we definitieve aanbevelingen doen. We staan op een tweesprong: durven we nieuwe wegen inslaan om deze kinderen te helpen, of blijven we vasthouden aan vertrouwde methoden?
Welke weg zou u kiezen?
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