Elisabeth Svendsen Trust

On World Autism Awareness Day (Friday 2nd April 2010) a UK charity tells how a donkey-riding centre five miles from his home is one of the very few places six-year-old Charlie McGowan will venture.

Charlie is profoundly autistic and struggles to communicate or socially interact, affecting his everyday life, but his anxieties are eased once a week when he rides donkeys at the Leeds Centre of the Elisabeth Svendsen Trust for Children and Donkeys.

His mother, Kirsty McGowan, home-educates Charlie and follows Son-Rise, an autism-specific programme, and also engages Charlie in a range of therapies that have been a great help to his disability, one being donkey therapy, which has had one of the most positive impacts on Charlie’s life.

Kirsty first took Charlie for donkey-riding therapy at the EST charity’s centre near Eccup in Leeds when he was three years old.

She never thought she would see her son ride a donkey, but his progress was to prove more dramatic than anyone expected.

She says: “Charlie was just like any other young boy, until he was two and a half when his autism caused him to regress from social interactions. He lost the speech and language that he had learnt and avoided making eye contact. He would spend all day banging his head against the wall and screamed throughout the night. It was just devastating.

“When I first brought Charlie to the centre, I was sceptical of how the donkeys could help him; he wouldn’t get on a bike or anything like it and I just thought... he will never ride a donkey.

“To begin with, he would only ride behind the donkey in a cart, but gradually over time, Charlie became brave enough to stroke the donkeys, and later sit and ride on them. Now he takes part in every aspect of the riding session. He’s made so much progress and it’s very moving to see what he achieves week-on-week. I just can’t believe the bravery of him getting on the donkey, and not just sitting there but taking part in different games. I really didn’t think it was possible, so it’s been quite life changing. I’ve brought every member of my family now, over the course of the last six months, to show how much he’s improved; and everyone stands there in floods of tears.

“It’s hard to find places to take Charlie outside of home and the riding centre is one of the few places he feels comfortable visiting. Despite his difficulties communicating, I know Charlie looks forward to coming because when we are driving down the lane towards the centre, he gets excited and his face is beaming by the time we get to the car park.

“The staff are really understanding of Charlie’s complex needs and invite us to come when the centre is quieter, enabling him to enjoy quality time with the donkeys, which he really enjoys. They know Charlie and will all talk to him, and riding instructor Mandy always takes his lesson – this kind of consistency really helps with his comfort levels.”

Over 150 children attend the Leeds riding centre every week. Mandy Carr has been an employee of the charity for the past eight years and believes all of the autistic children attending the centre have been helped in a positive way by the donkeys.

Mandy says: “I have seen such a dramatic improvement in Charlie’s behaviour between when he first started coming to the centre and now. There is no doubt of the magical connection which is held between a donkey and child; they have an inexplicable understanding and just seem to click. Autistic children also seem to benefit from the relaxed and feel-safe environment our centre offers.

“When Charlie first started coming, we couldn’t have other children riding at the same time and we’d always have to have the same staff supporting him. Now he feels more relaxed and engages in the games, often without us prompting him. With the help of our special donkeys, he has learned to be brave and try new things despite the difficulties autism presents him with.”

To find out more about the work of The Elisabeth Svendsen Trust for Children and Donkeys, please call 01395 573133 or visit www.elisabethsvendsentrust.org.uk. You can also get in touch with the EST Leeds Centre directly on 0113 261 9249.