A willingness to go to the ends of the earth for our kids is something that autism seems to inspire in many of us, but few have done so as literally as Rupert Isaacson and his wife, Kristin Neff, who took their autistic son Rowan to the steppes of Mongolia to seek the help of shaman healers. The Horse Boy: A Father's Quest to Heal His Son is Isaacson's moving account of that journey and its many challenges, along with the healing and hope that the experience brought him and his family.Over here at Autism's Edges, we have not quite gone to the ends of the earth to help Sweet M, but we have been going to the middle of Long Island for the past year— to the Melville home of HorseAbility — where Sweet M has been learning to ride.
More recently — because we're out in California for a couple of weeks — we sought out a corral in Chatsworth, California, where Sweet M road with the fine team at Ride On.
We found Ride On through the website of NARHA, the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association.
NARHA is a great resource for families with kids on the spectrum. And Isaacson's book makes a terrific case for keeping (or bringing) horses into our kids' lives.
