This is such a great service. Sarah’s knowledge is immense. The end results were amazing for my son. Can’t recommend Strides highly enough.
Client’s Mother
The service my ASD son receives from Strides is amazing. My son has a huge fear of all animals and the first day we came out and he was introduced to ‘comet’ was truly ‘life changing’ for the better. Sarah put my son and us (parents) at ease with her professionalism and caring nature. My son who is non-verbal in the last few weeks has started to make sounds and attempts the word ‘Go’ for Comet to move. I can honestly say that this has been the most life-changing therapy for my son that I have ever seen. I am now so excited and confident for the future because of the life changing results that Strides has made for my son. It is the very best therapy for my son and his needs which are all being met and improved since joining Strides in December 2015. I can’t thank Sarah and her team enough for all that she is doing not only for my son but for me and the rest of our family. A truly amazing and unique experience that I would recommend to everyone.
Client’s Mother
I cannot recommend Strides and it’s fantastic staff enough. My little boy has been attending since March 2018 and has come on leaps and bounds with Strides. The care, patience and one to one individualised attention my son receives at Strides is exceptional. Rebecca has such a big heart. Her expertise and close connection she has developed with my son is amazing. I cannot recommend Strides enough as my son’s progress with Strides has been brilliant.
Client’s Mother
Every session I sit and watch the interaction between *son* and Rebecca and it warms my heart. The bond they have is so visible and actually you can almost feel it as you watch their session. Before starting at Strides, only very close family really knew *son*’s character. Not only because his speech was so limited even after almost two years of speech therapy but *son*’s social anxiety meant that he would never look at let alone speak to anyone he wasn’t very familiar with. Over the months we’ve seen this social anxiety gradually lessen to the point where he now will interact a little with another child he might come across while playing in a park. To most parents this is typical but to a parent of a child with autism that is a huge milestone.
*son* had extremely limited lateral movement when we started hippotherapy and this really limited his speech . We had been doing tongue exercises every day for almost two years. Now in such a short space of time *son* can be understood by everybody. The difference is amazing. Today for the very first time he mastered the L sound. The one we’ve been working on for so long now. Today my 5 year old said I love you clear as day for the first time ever. The difference that Hippotherapy has made in our home is unbelievable. We haven’t had one ER visit since we started. And trust me we were frequent visitors! We’ve been monitored for concussion on more than one occasion due to balance and coordination problems.
*son* is such a sensory seeker that the movement of the horse during his sessions is having a wonderful effect on his sensory system. I could sit here all night and list the benefits it’s had for us but what I love is that I get to sit and watch him interact with his therapist and the trust they’ve built amazes me. This is a boy who got off the bumper cars at the weekend because people were bumping him too much 😊 But he trusts Rebecca enough to kneel up on a moving horse and put his hands up in the air. I just love to watch them in action. Honestly Sarah, the team at Strides really are amazing. I can’t put into words the difference hippotherapy has made to us and I can’t thank you all enough.
Client’s Mother
I cannot recommend strides therapy clinic enough. Sarah and the team are all fantastic and my son is mad about all of them especially Chester “his” horse! And is also obsessed with Tomas who runs around the fields!!!!!!
My son has autism and sensory processing disorder. These diagnosis only came over the course of the last year. We had been doing a lot of OT based in a room which in the beginning he loved and enjoyed but on our last set of sessions he started to act up and become uncooperative. He used to get upset when I said we were going and I felt like I was paying a lot of money when I really had to do my best to keep him focused on the session. It reached a point where I began to feel so bad having to bring him to his session.
It is around this time that I heard about strides. As my son needs a lot of OT I was willing to try a different angle. We went for our first session and I was overcome with emotion my son was in his element and when asked questions he answered with a clear mind something he is incapable to do normally, he also told me afterwards that while he is on the horse the noise in his head stops something that only every happens him under water!!!
We have had many sessions with Sarah and he has come on leaps and bounds he used be so unsteady on his feet and fall a lot and for the past few months this has improved greatly. He is so calm after his session and is willing to co operate with me something he struggles with normally. From week to week we encounter different difficulties with our son and Sarah always tries to use the session to help him with these issues. He loves the clinic so much and views his sessions there as a reward for being a good boy. He doesn’t even realise he is doing an OT session! He has so many other appointments such as speech and language, physio etc that it is a joy to go to OT at strides it’s so much more than OT.
If you are considering trying this out trust me it’s worth it it could be the best and nicest form of intervention for your beautiful child. I have a feeling my son will be here for many years to come he has told me he plans on working here minding the horses when he is off duty from being a rescue man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks Sarah and team for all your support
Client’s Parent
We started hippotherapy at Strides in March with our daughter who is nearly two. She suffered a traumatic brain injury and has been in therapy since a few weeks old. My main goal was to bring her to therapy and for her to enjoy every minute to get the maximum development for her. We got off to a rocky start with my daughter crying for 3 weeks, but I could see so many gains of improvement in her balance and the weakness in her right leg we persisted. Sarah & Rebecca’s total patience was key. My daughter now works with Rebecca. She does have anxiety issues with new people so having the same therapist every week is key for her to build a relationship. A couple of months into this journey all I can say about Strides is ‘Wow’. Rebecca is the most kindest and patient person I know. She knows how to get the best out of my daughter through the sessions. My daughter has made vast improvements in her balance, walking gait, her speech, as well as her fine motor skills.
The 1hour a week that we spend here yields excellent results. As a parent I didn’t know much about hippotherapy until I arrived, I now see first hand the improvements it can give to a child. I would have no hesitation in recommending Strides to any other parent and have done so already. The hour that my daughter spends with Rebecca fills my heart, she is the only therapist my daughter has fully engaged with, without me by her side. Words cannot describe the work and achievements she has made with my daughter. It also makes a lovely change that I can have a cup of tea and relax during a therapy session as I’m normally involved in the session. My daughter now goes to bed saying “go” as part of the ready, steady, go to the horse. She also walks and smiles as she comes into the session – this I would call a success of my original goal of her enjoying the therapy sessions.
Client’s Mother