Article- Dolphin Discovery (Therapy)

[Guest guest]

Hello and Everyone,

In addition to your great interest on Dolphin Therapy, I'm sure

members will appreciate this story as I have. Here is an informative

online article from EP Magazine which speaks about one father's

special needs child, having a successful and meaningful experience

with this unique therapeutic approach.

Enjoy,

Mustafa

DOLPHIN DISCOVERY

by O'Hare

The smell of briny sea water fills the air and the salty taste of an

unexpected wave wets your mouth. As the current surges forward with

great force, it reveals something big moving just beneath the surface.

Just as it seems about to hit you, the thing swims to one side and

brushes past with powerful grace. You feel its slick, wet skin—the

texture of a newly-peeled hard-boiled egg—as it slides under your

outstretched hand. High-pitched clicks and whistles accompany the

lapping sounds of the water. When you are blind, senses other than

sight must describe the world. And the world you are in is the that of

dolphins.

A vacation for

My daughter, , is now eight-years old. She has a number of

physical and mental disabilities, including blindness due to cortical

visual impairment. She has also been diagnosed with slight cerebral

palsy and may have copocephaly (pressure on the brain), though her

doctors are not positive. For a time, she experienced seizures that

tightened her entire body. These are now somewhat controlled by

medication. Her speech patterns remain in the four- to-six-month age

range, she cannot stand unassisted, and it is only in the last

year that she has learned to crawl. She is very tactilely defensive,

and takes a long time to warm up to new surroundings or people.

This past summer, it was important to find a vacation in which

could actually participate in and get out of her wheelchair. I had

seen a documentary about dolphins being used in therapy programs, and

so I investigated some of these facilities.

There are plenty of places to swim with dolphins. Tourists flock to

Florida to jump in the water and splash around with the big " fish. "

However, less than a handful of places are designed specifically to

deal with people with disabilities. Through research, I found Island

Dolphin Care (IDC) in Key Largo, Florida. IDC is one of the few places

in the world offering structured therapeutic swims for children with

disabilities. loves being in water, though she cannot swim

without assistance. IDC sounded good, yet having been to a number of

facilities that looked great in the brochure and then didn't provide

what the child really needs, we wanted to visit first.

The two therapists, Deena Hoagland, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., and

, Ph.D., took 's mother, Ginny, on a tour, introduced her

to the dolphins, and spent a great deal of time going over what

dolphin therapy was about. One important thing was that IDC would not

take a child for just a half-hour swim. IDC was committed to

developing individualized week-long programs of dedicated therapy for

each child. Beyond " selling " their place, Deena and Bill were

genuinely interested in giving a meaningful experience. Finally,

we decided to try it. And going to IDC was one of the best decisions

we ever made on 's behalf.

Read entire article at Online Exceptional Parent Magazine!

http://www.eparent.com/welcome/features/dolphin_discovery.htm

For more information on Dolphin Therapy contact

Island Dolphin Care (IDC)

31 Corrine Place Key Largo, Florida 33037 Phone:(305)451-5884

Website- http://www.islanddolphincare.org./nonflash/home.htm