Re: Swimming with the Dolphins

[Guest guest]

I could give you an email address of someone whose child has done this

Judi

----- Original Message -----

> Do you have information on Swimming with the Dolphins. I read about it a

few

> weeks ago and did not copy down the info.Thanks _Stacey (mom to Brittney 4.5

> and Logan 2.5yrs)

[Guest guest]

Hi Judy, Stacey and all!

I did

speak to the owner of http://www.islanddolphincare.org about dolphin

therapy a bit more. I had heard that some doctors relate to

the " mystical healing properties " of the dolphins, like E.

Upledger of www.upledger.com/ of cranial sacral therapy -that

is not at all the way Island Dolphin Care presents the therapy -they

present it as a fun experience mixed with traditional therapy from

human professionals like ABA that has helped many children -but that

they steer away from any of the " mystical " claims other's use.

I said that as parents if we see sudden and dramatic changes in our

children we may refer to them as miraculous (like with the fish oil)

however -just like with fish oil, it may be tied to a scientific

reason. So in trying to imagine why dolphin therapy may be

successful my first thought outside of the water aspect or the

stimulation from the fun -would be the sound. For example -we know

that for many children therapeutic listening programs are

successful. I also know that dolphins are extremely intelligent,

have their own language...so I just wonder if their communication is

something that the human brain responds to in some way -even if we

consciously don't understand it. I asked " Has anyone tried making an

audio of a specific dolphin while a specific child is in the water

with him and then putting headphones on the child with the sounds of

the same specific dolphin, but this time the same specific child

would hear it outside the water -and measuring the brain waves of

that child both in and out of the water to see if the dolphin sounds

change anything for that child? " He told me that there is research

going on (or that went on -not sure) in Florida with scientists who

did create a type of " cap " to measure brain waves of the child in the

water with the dolphin -not exactly the same as I thought -but there

is something going on I guess. It would be funny though if dolphin

therapy does help our children in some way -first fish oil and then

dolphin therapy?!

Well I asked if anyone else did or was going to check out dolphin

therapy for their child (like those of you in Florida already where

most of it is going on) not much of a response - so we are

going to just go ahead and take Tanner at some point soon. If

nothing else, credible or not -swimming with the dolphins will be an experience

he'll

never forget!

Here is a great article -Turning to Flipper for Therapy?

http://exn.ca/Stories/1998/04/09/51.asp

Island Dolphin Care http://www.islanddolphincare.org

Aquathought Foundation http://www.aquathought.com/index.html

Dolphin (Israel) http://www.dolphinreef.co.il/

-and here one of the more " mystical " articles I cached off of

google:http://216.239.37.100/search?

q=cache:_wldNpGTAGAC:web.singnet.com.sg/~suezannf/index_dolphin2.htm+d

olphin+therapy+scans+brain & hl=en & ie=UTF8

" DOLPHIN THERAPY. "

" The Dolphins facilitate a level of consciousness that has untapped

therapeutic potential for humankind "

{Dr. Ari Kiev, Director of Society Psychiatry Research Institute, New

York.}

DOLPHINS & HEALING

Copyright 1995 By Lynn

The Dolphin Circle

Over the last two decades, extensive research has been conducted on

the dolphins and the positive effects they appear to have on people.

Dr. Horace Dobbs, one of the leading researchers in the dolphin

field, has done a great deal of work with dolphins and people

suffering with chronic depression. His work indicates that the

dolphins have a profound effect on alleviating this debilitating

condition.

Currently, there are swim programs and research being conducted at

Dolphins Plus in Key Largo, Florida and at The Dolphin Research

Center in Grassy Keys, Florida for children living with Down's

Syndrome and autism. The children participating in these programs

have experienced substantial increases in the rate of their learning.

One thing appears certain: Dolphins seem to trigger the healing

process in people. Some of the reported effects include enhanced

recovery in chronically and terminally ill people, pain reduction,

and changes in blood chemistry. The response is measurable.

Increases in the immune system T-cell counts have been measured, as

well as stimulation of the production of neurotransmitters and

endorphins. Brain waves change after swimming with dolphins. Through

EEG's scientists have measured a far greater harmony between the left

and right sides of the brain after interacting with dolphins.

Many theories have been advanced about why dolphins evoke the healing

response. Some believe the dolphins' use of sonar and echolocation

produce changes in body tissue and cell structure. Others believe the

sound waves emitted by the dolphins in communication and echolocation

stimulate healing. Clearly, there is the chemical factor with changes

in body chemistry. Less clear is why these changes occur. Some people

attribute the healing effects solely to the joy the dolphins bring to

people by their happy, playful and compassionate natures. Perhaps the

whys are not as important as the healing itself.

Our experience and the experience of many others in interacting with

these beings suggests that encounters with dolphins evoke a deep

emotional response and trigger the release of deep feeling and

emotion. Dolphins seem to awaken the emotional center. They tend to

elicit extreme emotional responses in people. Some find themselves

filled with joy, others burst into tears after coming in close

contact with the dolphins. Most of us experience a myriad of

feelings.

Being in the water with the dolphins affects subtle energy bodies. It

is this aspect of dolphins and healing that we are interested in

exploring.

Deeply stored emotion surfaces effortlessly. The processing of these

emotions appears to be greatly enhanced by the dolphins. We believe

one of the ways healing takes place is through the release and

processing of these emotions. It is this aspect we intend to study,

experience and share with others.

We are researching the emotional aspect of healing with the dolphins

and are gathering information from our experiences on the dolphin

encounters for a book on dolphins and emotional healing. The

experiences you share with us are important to us in compiling this

data. If you would like to share the stories of your dolphin

encounters, we would love to hear them.

Lynn is one of the founders of The Dolphin Circle, based in

Seattle, Washington. She is a licensed massage therapist working with

those living with chronic and terminal illnesses; a writer, and

facilitator of The Weiss Transformation Processes. She conducts ocean

seminars focused on interspecies communication and healing. For

further information, contact The Dolphin Circle at (425) 334-0272 or

e-mail: iamdavid@...

The dolphin helped Nikki to speak - now there's hope for Shireen

By Tamsin

DEVOTED mother Tabitha Brice has sent a message of hope to a silent

youngster who is looking to find her voice with the help of dolphins.

Tabitha's eight-year-old son Nikki stunned the medical world when he

spoke for the first time after undergoing pioneering therapy which

involves swimming with dolphins.

Nikki, who suffered brain damage at birth and never learned to talk

despite being physically able to do so, made the miraculous recovery

while having treatment at the Human Dolphin Therapy Centre in

Florida.

His family spent months raising the £10,500 needed to get him to the

Miami unit in a desperate bid to help him speak, and the breakthrough

came in the midst of a three-week course of intensive treatment,

which he is still undergoing.

Nikki broke his silence when he simply pointed to the dolphin

enclosure and said he wanted to join his mammal friends for a swim by

saying " In " .

And since then he has gone on to speak even more words, including the

first name of his grandmother, Jackie Clancy, who is with him on the

trip, and " Please " . And he has told his family he was fed up with

learning new words by saying " No more " .

In the wake of Nikki's amazing progress, Mrs Brice, of Blackthorn

Gardens, Weston-super-Mare, sent a message of hope from Florida to

Philomena Lapinski, who is looking to get her daughter Shireen to the

same centre for treatment.

In a postcard, which arrived at Mrs Lapinski's Clevedon home

yesterday, Tabitha said: " It is worth every penny. The dolphin

therapy centre is brilliant. Don't give up hope. "

Mrs Brice has already pledged to help raise the money needed to get

six-year-old Shireen, who is autistic and cannot speak, to the

therapy unit, and Mrs Lapinski is halfway towards raising the £10,500

needed.

Mrs Lapinski, aged 35, of Lower Queen's Road, Clevedon, said: " I am

so pleased that Nikki is doing so well. It is great news and a great

comfort to me.

" Tabitha has been a great support and already promised to help raise

the money needed to pay for Shireen's treatment when she gets back

from Florida. Her postcard has been a real encouragement.

Shireen is autistic with severe learning disabilities and gets very

frustrated at not being able to express herself or talk.

" Conventional methods have not really helped her so far and the

dolphin therapy is our only hope.

" It is a lot of money to raise but I've already managed to get

£4,213 since I started three months ago and I'm hopeful that with

Tabitha's help the money will soon be reached. "

Mrs Lapinski, her husband, Victor, and Shireen's younger brother,

, are looking to travel to Florida together for a three-week

course of treatment next February.

Virgin boss Branson has donated a flight ticket to the family

and local resident Winter has handed over Air Miles to meet

the cost of Shireen's flight, while anonymous donations of £200 have

poured in.

Last night, Tabitha Brice said from Florida: " Nikki has benefited so

much from the dolphin therapy I am determined to help others get out

here too.

" Every day he makes more headway and surprises us yet again. His

vocabulary is expanding all the time and he is trying to say new

words. It is like a fairy tale except they aren't real but this

is. " I don't know how the dolphin therapy works but it does. The

dolphins are real miracle workers. "

Nikki is half way through an intensive therapy programme, supervised

by Dr son.

Under a specially-devised programme of conventional speech and

physical therapy Nikki is swimming 40 minutes a day with the

dolphins.

=====

[Guest guest]

Although we did not swim with the Dolphins and

its got to be incredible to swim with those lovely

creatures. U wished we had tried it just for the experience and joy.

When I visited the Upledger Inst. on several occasions

one Dr. basically told me, save your money.

Any animal that loves your child will be the same

benefit. Even pet therapy dogs, and other animals.

Like riding horses helps kids of all kids physical

disorders.

BTW: there is a book out on the study of dolphins

with autistic children some time ago. I had the book

and loaned out (never got it back).