Dolphin therapy: recreation or medicine?

March 28, 1998
Web posted at: 6:27 p.m. EST (2327 GMT)

MIAMI (CNN) -- An 8-year old British boy trapped in a world of silence since birth recently uttered his first word after an intense, three-day therapy session with dolphins, his physician says.

Doctors at the Human Dolphin Therapy Center in Miami believe the highly intelligent creatures have the extraordinary ability to help treat children with autism, Down syndrome and other neurological and movement disorders.

Dr. David Nathanson, director of the center, considers Nikki Brice one of the successes.

"I said, ... 'All right, Nick, do you want to get in the water?' And he shook his head yes and put his foot from the dock into the water, and took his foot back.

CNN's Porter Anderson reports

"And I said, 'No, Nick, you have to say in,' and he looked at me and he said 'in.' "I said, 'Let's hear it a little clearer, please.'

"And I put my hands to his face like this, and he said 'in.'

While the therapy has attracted supporters, many scientists remain skeptical.

Mother says son has been helped

Briton Billy Bayles, who has communication and learning difficulties triggered by a chromosome abnormality, also is a patient at the center, but he has yet to speak.

With the help of donations from their hometown of Southampton, his parents raised $10,000 to bring the 8-year-old to the center.

He spends 40 minutes every day undergoing speech and communication therapy, a large part of which is interacting with the dolphins. The goal is to let them encourage and stimulate Billy so he can focus on learning to speak.

Billy's mother already has noticed an improvement.

"He's trying to do more signs, because we do a lot of sign language with him so that we can give him another alternative way of communicating with us. And he's actually done a couple of signs which he's not done before," Andrea Bayles said.

How does the process work?

Some medical professionals admit that dolphins can have a therapeutic effect on people suffering from depression and learning difficulties. But doctors are baffled as to how the process works.

One theory is that dolphins use their unique sonar ability to identify neurological disorders in people, then help them relax and open up to learning and healing.

"These kids gain a tremendous sense of confidence because they've actually, measurably, quantifiably improved," Nathanson said.
(187 K / 17 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

But many scientists argue that the children just like the feel of the dolphins, and it is no more than a recreational pastime.

And they note that there are no comprehensive studies on dolphin therapy to prove it really works.

Doctors at the dolphin therapy center claim they have helped more than 1,000 children overcome learning disorders, and say that represents a 97 percent success rate.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related sites:

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

• Dolphin Therapy Research
• The Virtual Dolphin Therapy Program
• The Human Dolphin Institute
• stepback: Dolphin Therapy - nextstep

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

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