Researchers have long preached the health benefits of spending time with animals but can interacting with dolphins really help young patients with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy or autism?
That is the premise behind Dolphin Assisted Therapy, a controversial and expensive treatment being offered to families desperate for a new approach in hope of breaking through to their loved ones.
Peter and Wendy Garrish, of Montreal, had heard some impressive anecdotes about the power of dolphin therapy. 鈥淪ome kids started talking after, some kid started walking. There was a little boy who started eating after,鈥� said Peter, in an interview with W5鈥檚 Lloyd Robertson.
The stories drew their interest because their seven-year-old daughter, Alex, is severely autistic. She is largely non-verbal, has aversions to many foods and is prone to temper tantrums. Alex has taken part in various conventional therapies throughout her young life but nothing like dolphin assisted therapy. That all changed in March 2012 when, thanks to a charity called Dolphin Aid, she and her family travelled to the Caribbean island of Curacao, where Alex became the first Canadian to take part in a two-week program at the Curacao Dolphin Therapy Center.
Without the help of Dolphin Aid, the therapy was financially beyond the family鈥檚 means. The two-week program costs $8,000, not including flights, accommodation and food, which can total several thousand dollars more.
According to Marco Kuerschner, Head Therapist at the Center, the dolphins help to focus children鈥檚 attention and also act as a powerful reward when the child accomplishes a new task.
Over the course of the two weeks, Alex worked daily with a two-member team: behavior therapist Gerwin Bijker and his dolphin partner, Leena, one of five dolphins working at the Therapy Centre.
The first part of each morning was spent out of the water as Gerwin guided Alex through intensive one-on-one therapy sessions. The real fun came later, in the dolphin pool, when Lena helped to re-enforce the lessons learned in the morning.
Using cue cards Alex had to speak the word for each activity she wanted to do after which she could play with Leena. For example, after saying the words 鈥渦pside down鈥�, Leena would show off her tail. When Alex said 鈥渂all,鈥� she got to play catch with the dolphin.
Working with Gerwin and Leena, Alex seemed to make incremental progress during the two weeks of intensive therapy. The number of tantrums decreased dramatically and, according to her parents, she began communicating in ways she never did before.
鈥淚 was in the middle of the pool and I put my arms out and I just said 鈥楢lex come,鈥� So she turned around and she leaped towards me and when she came on me she held me and she said, 鈥楽wim with daddy,鈥� recalled Peter. 鈥淎nd she never said anything like that whatsoever to me before.鈥�
While parents who watch their children seem to respond in new and uplifting ways, others are skeptical of the value of Dolphin Assisted Therapy. Lori Marino, a research scientist with Emory University in Atlanta has reviewed 20 years of studies on the therapy and has concluded it has no benefit.
鈥淒olphin Assisted Therapy is a scam,鈥� said Marino, in an interview with W5鈥檚 Lloyd Robertson. 鈥淭here is no scientific evidence to suggest that swimming with dolphins is therapeutic.鈥�
But Peter and Wendy Garish were convinced there had been real progress in threating Alex鈥檚 autism by the end of the two weeks, insisting she was communicating better than ever and equally important, had fewer tantrums.
鈥淗ow do we find the funds to come back and give her this opportunity again?鈥� asked Wendy.
