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.