Introduction into Research Paper

                In my research paper I will be stating my precise opinion on the subject of Dolphin Assisted Therapy.  I will present a topic on Dolphin Assisted therapy and supportmy opinion on this subject with research that has been done on the subject of Dolphin Assisted Therapy.  Dolphin Assisted Therapy is something that has not had much recognition in the field of animal therapy; it has been around for 20 years and has been the subject to much criticism. I believe that Dolphin Assisted Therapy can help with the relieving the symptoms of autism along with regular behavioral therapy. Dolphin Assisted Therapy can have many benefits, the research is minimal but beneficial to the field of Dolphin Assisted Therapy, and the procedure is assisting with regular therapy. I will also discuss the criticism that has come with Dolphin Assisted therapy and I will refute these with research that has proven those statements wrong.

Research Paper

Research Paper

Dolphin Assisted Therapy is something that has been growing for 20 years in the world of behavioral therapy.  Dolphin Assisted Therapy is a type of therapy that can help with assisting in autism along with the other therapies that help with reducing the symptoms of autism.  Dolphin Assisted Therapy can help with different types of mental and physical therapies not just autism. Many professionals in the medical field have stated that there is not sufficient research to support the benefits of Dolphin Assisted Therapy. I believe that Dolphin Assisted Therapy can help with the relieving the symptoms of autism along with regular behavioral therapy.  Dolphin Assisted Therapy can have many benefits, the research is minimal but beneficial to the field of Dolphin Assisted Therapy, and the procedure is assisting with regular therapy.

                 In DATthere are many benefits that can help with relieving the symptoms of autism along with the regular behavioral therapy. Dolphin Assisted Therapy has many different physical benefits. Such as effectively improve language, behavior, cognitive processing, attention, motivation to learn, and certain medical conditions” (Humphries, 1).  Along with the many different physical benefits there are also many different psychological benefits that are relieved with Dolphin Assisted Therapy. Tracey Humphries describes these psychological benefits in her article, ”Dolphin Assisted Therapy helps children with post traumatic stress disorder, autism, Down’s Syndrome, cancer, and other neurological, physical, or psychological conditions” (Humphries, 1).  Along with regular therapy the benefits that have been seen have been stated in Humphries article Dolphin Assisted Therapies. Dr. Karsten Brensing has found research to support these claims which she has stated in her case study “A further experiment indicated that children learned two to ten times faster and with greater retention when working with dolphins” (Brensing, 3) The benefits that have been stated in research by the Dolphin Assisted Therapy centers has explained the beneficial factors that have helped many different people suffering in the last 20 years from autism.

                 There are many articles of professionals that are not trained in this type of animal therapy that do not prove that Dolphin Assisted Therapy is beneficial. There are different animal therapies that are available, “Dolphin Therapy may be fun and productive, but it has not been proven more effective than other animal therapies” (Autism & More). Of the research that has been done, the results that have been seen are “behavioral findings that all of the investigators reported improved behavioral outcome for children receiving DAT” (Humphries, 4).  The emotional benefits that have been seen are “social emotional outcomes included displays of newly emergent kindness, improved attentiveness, initiating play; maintain eye contact, and self control” (Humphries, 4).  Although there are some professionals that say that the therapy has not been proven to help with relieving in autism, Humphries has stated that the therapy does have positive outcomes.  When in therapy the testing can be uncontrolled but the results that families see are more beneficial than what any test can prove.

The research that has been done isminimal, but the research designs have helped back up the benefits of Dolphin Assisted Therapy. There are reports that have been published that are beneficial to the field of Dolphin Assisted Therapy. Dr. Karsten Brensing has supplied a study on Dolphin Assisted Therapy in her case study where she has stated “based on a study with approximately 1500 patients, a positive influence on child’s autonomic homeostasis and psycho emotional status could be observed” (Brensing, 3) Tracey Humphries has stated these benefits, “all of the investigators reported improved behavioral outcomes for children receiving DAT” (Humphries, 4).  Tracey Humphries also reports the social emotional benefits that have been seen in Dolphin Assisted therapy,  she say that they show newly emergent kindness, improved attentiveness, initiating play; maintain eye contact, and self-control (Humphries, 4).  The therapy is meant to assist in everyday behavioral therapy, “The dolphin therapy is also well complimentary for medicament and therapeutic treatment: it can be used combined with other curative methods” (Batozsky). In Dr. Karsten Brensing has summed up the research by stating “generally there are many reasons given for the success of animal assisted therapies, most of which are based on the effects of socializing, such as increasing trust or responsibility” (Brensing, 3) These articles have found that there were beneficial outcomes to Dolphin Assisted Therapy, with emotional and behavioral sides of autism when being used as a complimentary therapy. These studies were conduct to assist in the daily therapy that those suffering from autism go through weekly.

Those that have done research have stated that the therapists that work with the therapy are not educated and are not structured enough to run the therapy.  Those that work in Dolphin Assisted Therapy are trained and have degrees in many different fields of therapy. The fields of study are stated in Autism & More article, “At every treatment session the dolphin, the dolphin’s trainer and therapists (occupation, physical, speech and/or psychotherapists) are present” (Autism & More).  The way that Dolphin Assisted therapy is done with professionals that have the education behind them. They are trained to work with the different mental and physical disabilities and complimenting this therapy with dolphins only helps move forward in the fight to cure autism. Using dolphins to assist in everyday therapy only excites those that suffer from autism and those that are the family members of those suffering from autism.

     The procedure of Dolphin Assisted Therapy does not just consist of the children playing with dolphins, they also have different on land therapies and different behavioral tests that they have to pass in order to swim and play with the dolphins.  Dolphin Assisted Therapy has goals to meet, “DAT consists of defining a treatment goal for the individual child, such as completing a gross or fine motor task or producing a language behavior.” Dolphin Assisted Therapy Consists of three parts, which is explained in Erwin Breitenbach’s article “The first step is the Recreation which the families of autism stay in a resort type area and with this comes activities that are administered and organized by the staff of a Dolphin Assisted Therapy center.  The second step is the Counseling which the entire family that is with the child that is autistic takes part in a therapeutic session at the beginning and the end of the each treatment week.  During the therapeutic session the families and the counselors view the child’s behavior with the dolphin and focus on working with improving their behavioral attitudes in other environments other than the Dolphin Center. The third step is the interaction with the dolphins and in this step they get introductions into how to treat the mammal and interact with them in thirty minute sessions” (Breitenbach). The tasks that the patient must achieve are just like a regular therapy such as learning to express their emotions, make eye contact, making physical moves, and making sentences.  The process of Dolphin Assisted Therapy helps the patient achieve goals and to be excited about something that is different than the regular day to day therapies.

 Some believe that the therapy is a cure for autism but that is a very much misunderstood. There are professionals in the medical field that also work in the Dolphin Assisted Therapy to help bring different perspectives into the medical field. A statement from the article Autism & More clarifies that it is not a cure but a compliment, “We must remember that Dolphin Assisted Therapy does not “cure” Autism, or related disorders, but well-structured therapy has shown rapid improvement in symptoms by reducing stress, elevating mood, modifying behavior and improving speech and learning patterns” (Autism & More). While it is misunderstood with many people that have family with autism believe that it can cure autism, it only reduces the symptoms of autism with behavioral therapies.  It is a great way to assist and a fun way to reduce the symptoms of autism along with regular therapy.

 Dolphin Assisted Therapy is something that can be a great advancement in the therapy for autism and many other mental and physical issues. Having Dolphin Assisted Therapy as a complimentary therapy is a great way to enhance the benefits from other behavioral therapies that work with autism.  Dolphin Assisted Therapy has many benefits, the research is minimal but beneficial to the field of Dolphin Assisted Therapy, and the procedure is assisting with regular therapy. This therapy gives hope and excitement for the families that are affected by autism. This hope can give the families the ability to relax and enjoy the fun and therapeutic benefits of Dolphin Assisted Therapy for their family members.

Annotated Bibliography

 

Annotated Bibliography

Autism and More. “The Verdict Dolphin Assisted Therapy” www.sharoncreativecorner.com. Web. March 2012.

This article helps with answering the questions that many people have regarding the Dolphin Assisted Therapy. This article has benefited my paper by proving the point that there are professional therapists that are helping assist in the therapy.

Breitenbach, Erwin. ““Dolphin-assisted therapy: changes in interaction and communication between children with severe disabilities and their caregivers.” Web.

This journal article expresses the process of the Dolphin Assisted Therapy and the different ways that this therapy helps and if the therapy really works.  The article effectively helped me with understanding how the therapy is done.

Brensing, Karsten. “Expert Statement on Swim with the Dolphin Programs and Dolphin Assisted Therapy.” Web.  April 10, 2012.

This case study lays out the evidence for opposing and benefiting the therapy.  This article effectively helped me with supporting the information that I have found in my research of other articles.

Batozky, Juri. “Usage of the Dolphin Assisted Therapy in Rehabilitation of Children.” International Institute of Dolphin Therapy.  Web. April 10, 2012.

This website has a lot of beneficial information from research, about the therapy, and articles about the therapy. This article helped me with the psychotherapeutic benefits that dolphin therapy has shown.

 

Humphries, Tracy. "Effectiveness of Dolphin Assisted Therapy as a Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Disabilities." Bridges Volume 1. Web. May 2003.

This journal helps with the beneficial research and gives to the point research on the subject. It gives the benefits and the diseases that are benefited from Dolphin Assisted Therapy. This helped with my research by having the positive and the negative ends of the research for my argumentative paper. It also expresses many different benefits of Dolphin Assisted Therapy.

The Dolphin Experience. “Promoting Health & Wellness through Dolphin Therapy.” www.thedolphinexperience.com. Web. April 10, 2012.  

This website promotes a Dolphin Therapy Center and it explains the benefits, testimonials, and the programs.  This website helped with the percentages of improvement those parents seen in their children.

Outline

Thesis:

Dolphin Assisted Therapy is something that is growing in the world of behavioral therapy.  Dolphin Assisted Therapy is a type of therapy that can help with assisting in autism along with the other therapies that help with reducing the symptoms of autism.  Many professionals in the medical field state that there is not sufficient research to support the benefits of Dolphin Assisted Therapy.  My opinion is that I believe that Dolphin Assisted Therapy strongly helps with the relieving the symptoms of autism along with regular behavioral therapy.  The key points in Dolphin Assisted Therapy is that I will be defending are the benefits, the research, and the procedure.

Paragraph 1:

Level 1:  In Dolphin Assisted Therapy there are many benefits that can help with relieving the symptoms of autism along with the regular behavioral therapy.

Level2:

“Dolphin Assisted Therapy can effectively improve language, behavior, cognitive processing, attention, motivation to learn, and certain medical conditions.” (Humphries 1)

“Dolphin Assisted Therapy helps children with post traumatic stress disorder, autism, Down’s Syndrome, cancer, and other neurological, physical, or psychological conditions.” (Humphries 1)

Level 3:

 1. Along with the regular therapy the benefits that have been seen along with regular behavioral therapy and Dolphin Assisted Therapies are the processes that have been explained by Humphries.

2. Dolphin Assisted Therapy has showed benefits with the behavioral therapies from autism to stress problems.

Level 4: Conclusion. The benefits that have been stated in research by the therapy centers are the beneficial factors that have helped many different people suffering from autism.

Counter Argument 1:

Level 1: There are many articles of professionals that are not trained in this type of therapy do not believe that the therapy has any real benefits and that it gives a placebo effect.

Level 2:

“Dolphin Therapy may be fun and productive, but it has not been proven more effective than other animal therapies.” (sharoncreativecorner.com)

“Behavioral findings that all of the investigators reported improved behavioral outcome for children receiving DAT” (Humphries 4)

“Social Emotional outcomes included displays of newly emergent kindness, improved attentiveness, initiating play; maintain eye contact, and self control.” (Humphries 4)

Level 3: Although there are some that say that the therapy has not been proven, Humphries has stated that the therapy does have positive outcomes.

Level 4: When in therapy the testing can be uncontrolled but the results that families see are more beneficial than what any test can prove.

Paragraph 2:

Level 1:  The research that has been done has been minimal but the research designs have helped back up the benefits of Dolphin Assisted Therapy.

Level 2:

“All of the investigators reported improved behavioral outcomes for children receiving DAT, with the exception of Servais who reported positive outcomes in only on the two experimental groups.” (Humphries)

“Social emotional outcomes included displays of newly emergent kindness, improved attentiveness, initiating play; maintain eye contact, and self-control.” (Humphries)

“The dolphin therapy is also well complimentary for medicament and therapeutic treatment; it can be used combined with other curative methods.” (International Institute of Dolphin Assisted Therapy)

Level 3: These two studies found that there were beneficial outcomes to Dolphin Assisted Therapy, with emotional and behavioral sides of autism.

Level 4:  These studies were conduct to assist in the daily therapy that those suffering from Dolphin Assisted Therapy go through weekly.

Counter Argument 2:

Level 1: Those that are in the medical field have performed research, they have not found any medical improvements in the patients but with opening their eyes they would see that the therapy has a benefit to it.

Level 2:

“The dolphins are specially trained for therapy. At every treatment session the dolphin, the dolphin’s trainer and therapists (occupation, physical, speech and/or psychotherapists) are present” (http://www.sharonscreativecorner.com/524/the-verdict-dolphin-assisted-therapy-for-autism/)

Level 3: The way that Dolphin Assisted therapy is done is through professionals that have the education behind them. They are trained to work with the different mental and physical disabilities and complimenting this therapy with dolphins only helps move forward in the fight to cure autism.

Level 4: Using dolphins to assist in everyday therapy only excites those that suffer from autism and those that are the family members of those suffering from autism.

Paragraph 3:

Level 1: The procedure of Dolphin Assisted Therapy does not just consist of the children playing with dolphins, they also have different on land therapies and different behavioral tests that they have to pass in order to swim and play with the dolphins.

Level 2:

“DAT consists of defining a treatment goal for the individual child, such as completing a gross or fine motor task or producing a language behavior.”

The first step is the Recreation which the families of autism stay in a resort type area and with this comes activities that are administered and organized by the staff of a Dolphin Assisted Therapy center.  The second step is the Counseling which the entire family that is with the child that is autistic takes part in a therapeutic session at the beginning and the end of the each treatment week.  During the therapeutic session the families and the counselors view the child’s behavior with the dolphin and focus on working with improving their behavioral attitudes in other environments other than the Dolphin Center. The third step is the interaction with the dolphins and in this step they get introductions into how to treat the mammal and interact with them in thirty minute sessions (Erwin Breitenbach)

Level 3: The tasks that the patient must achieve are just like a regular therapy such as learning to express their emotions, make eye contact, making physical moves, and making sentences.

Level 4: The process of Dolphin Assisted Therapy helps the patient achieve goals and to be excited about something that is different than the regular day to day therapies.

Counter Argument 3:

Level 1: Some believe that the therapy is a cure for autism but there are professionals in the medical field that also work in the Dolphin Assisted Therapy to help bring different perspectives into the medical field.

Level 2:

“We must remember that Dolphin Assisted Therapy does not “cure” Autism, or related disorders, but well-structured therapy has shown rapid improvement in symptoms by reducing stress, elevating mood, modifying behavior and improving speech and learning patterns.” (sharonscreativecorner.com)

Level 3: While it is misunderstood with many people that have family with autism believe that it can cure autism, it only reduces the symptoms of autism with behavioral therapies.

Level 4: It is a great way to assist and a fun way to reduce the symptoms of autism along with regular therapy.

Literature Review

Literature Review

Dolphin Assisted therapy gives those around the world the opportunity to help improve the symptoms of autism. In the article “Effectiveness of Dolphin- Assisted Therapy as a Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Disabilities,” by Tracy L Humphries  investigates the “effectiveness of dolphin- assisted therapy for improving cognitive, physical, and social-emotional behaviors of young children with disabilities that come along with autism”.  Those that are affected with autism, whether it is the patient or the family members know all too well that it is very difficult to perform daily tasks when you are suffering from this disease.  Family members of autistic children are not able to receive many of the treatments that are available because of the high cost of therapy. This does not allow them to minimize the effects of autism.  Those that have the resources available to be apart of these therapies can progress and minimize the effects of this disease.

What is Dolphin Assisted Therapy?

 Dolphin Assisted Therapy is not a new fad therapy that has recently emerged. In a case study by Dr. Karsten Brensing, she explains that this therapy has been in existence for about 20 years.  Dolphin Assisted Therapy is taking a child or adult that suffers from autism and putting them into an environment surrounded by dolphins.  It is said that the therapy can help with many different mental and physical issues that we all witness on a daily basis.  The therapy helps with post traumatic stress disorders, autism, Down’s syndrome, cancer, and other neurological, physical, and psychological issues.  In “Dolphin-assisted therapy: changes in interaction and communication between children with severe disabilities and their caregivers” by Erwin Breitenbach explains the process of Dolphin Assisted Therapy is done in three steps consisting of sixteen different therapy sessions.  The first step is the recreation where the families of autism stay in a resort type area and do activities that are administered and organized by the staff of a Dolphin Assisted Therapy center, (Breitenbach). The second step is the counseling which the entire family takes part.  The families are in a therapeutic session at the beginning and the end of the each treatment week.  During the therapeutic session with dolphins, the families and the counselors view the child’s behavior with the dolphin and focus on working with improving their behavioral attitudes in other environments outisde of the Dolphin Center. (Breitenbach) The third step is the interaction with the dolphins. Wth this step they get introductions into how to treat the mammal and are able to interact with them in thirty minute sessions.  In the article by Tracy L. Humphrey’s she states the ultimate goal of dolphin assisted therapy is to improve the skills of the child. The child has different tasks to accomplish, Tracey Humphries recognizes  in her article, “tsks they have to accomplish is a fine motor task, producing a language behavior, and with the therapeutic session they get to interact with a dolphin when the can give the correct motor, cognitive, or language response” (Humphrey’s 2) With this process along with the normal daily therapy that a child or adult suffering from autism the therapy would only help those suffering with autism. There is no evidence that it will do any harm along with the normal behavioral therapies.

What are the Benefits of Dolphin Assisted Therapy?

The benefits seen by parents and family members will give somewhat of hope on the progression of their family members. Many of the therapists that are a part of the Dolphin Assisted Therapy sessions are speech, occupational, or physical therapists that adjust the sessions to the different types of mental and physical needs that need to be met with the child. The benefits stated in Tracy L. Humphrey’s article  is that Dolphin Assisted Therapy will improve language, behavior, cognitive processing, attention, motivation to learn and certain medical conditions. In research there are many different benefits that can be achieved with therapy, the psychotherapeutic benefits according the article “Usage of the Dolphin Assisted Therapy in Rehabilitation of Children” from the International Institute of Dolphin Therapy that the benefits from psychotherapeutic benefits are “increasing of vitality and recovery motivation, sensor stimulation (fixed by electroencephalographic sensors, increasing of self-estimation, overcoming of the encapsulation and deficiency of positive emotions, and increasing of communicative production” (Institute of Dolphin Therapy). In the case study by Dr. Karsten Brensing  she states that “A further experiment indicated that children learned two to ten times faster and with greater retention when working with dolphins”(Brensing, 4) The therapy would only benefit the patients.

What Is the Research?

   Much of the research that has been done has come from the therapy centers that provide the Dolphin Assisted Therapy and there has been other research that has been done. The opposing research that has been done has not benefited the therapy itself.  Much of the research that has been done has not had a controlled environment and has many small sample sizes to study.  The research that has benefited the Dolphin Assisted Therapies of this 75% of the parents that have autistic children noticed an improvement in their children, and with the centers that offer Dolphin Assisted Therapy stated that there was a 90% effective rate in the therapy that they offer. (Promoting Health & Wellness through Dolphin Therapy) The research that Dr. Karsten Brensing has stated in her case study is that “Based on a study with approximately 1500 patients, a positive influence on child’s autonomic homeostasis and psycho emotional status could be observed” (Brensing). There is minimal but benefical research to support this therapy.

Conclusion

 Despite the many different therapies that are offered for families that are affected by autism this would only benefit as a compliment with other behavioral therapies. The therapy allows for the child to meet goals to interact with the dolphin, which only encourages them to work hard at the therapy.

Research Plan

Questions To Answer

• Currently I do not have a research plan and plan to do that in class
• I have created much smaller research plans with a planner that I carry around on a daily basis.
• Things that should be included in a research plan is the tasks, and dates to be accomplished by.

Scheduling a Research Project (Pg 376)
I will be turning the completed tasks red when they are finished.

1. Analyze your rhetorical Situation   3-15-2012                                                           
2.  Choose a Possible Topic.  3-13-2012                                                                          
3. Do preliminary research. 3-15-2012                                                                           
4. Come up with a research Question.   3-20-2012                                                         
5. Find and Read Library and Web Research 3-15-2012                                                                                              
6. Write Abstract.   3-21-2012
7. Write Draft of Lit Review and Annotated Works Cited 3-21-2012
8. Write Lit Review Due 3-27-2012
9. Annotated Works Cited Due 3-27-2012                               
10. Come Up with a tentative thesis and outline 3-27-2012
11. Write Out a Draft. 4-3-2012
12. Do any Additional Research. Tentative
13. Revise and Prepare Final Draft 4-5-2012
14. Final Draft Due. 4-10-2012
15. Proofread and Edit Portfolio 4-17-2012
16. Create Multi-Modal. 4-17-2012
17. Submit. 4-24-2012

Abstract Drafting-What is my Research Question?

Abstract

In my abstract I will be educating the readers on my research of Dolphin Assisted Therapy with autism. My topic of Dolphin Assisted Therapy associated with Autism is important because many parents and family members around the world are trying to find different therapies to help their family members overcome or minimize the symptoms and effects of Autism. Many people that have family members with autism have misunderstood that Dolphin Assisted Therapy will cure their family members of autism. With the research that has been done on Dolphin Assisted Therapy is that in reality it minimizes the effects of autism and does not cure autism.

My research question that I will be answering in my research is how the symptoms of autism can be reduced with Dolphin Assisted Therapy along with regular therapy associated with autism. I will be approaching my inquiry into this subject by analyzing many different academic essays and medical articles in this type of animal related therapy. My paper will educate those of the benefits that come with Dolphin Assisted Therapy along with the regular therapy for autism. I predict that along with the daily therapy, Dolphin Assisted Therapy will enhance the benefits from regular therapy with the calmness of the mammal and the soothing effects of being in the water for the patient. My preliminary conclusion is that the therapy with dolphins and the therapists will reduce the awareness and hyper activity of autism along with daily behavioral therapy.