Assited Dolphin Therapy
By Tarek Khaleel
In this world there are many troubling things, aspects of society and life in which many people wish not to deal with or think about, a child with some disability, like autism or even worse. We don’t like to think of the young in such terms, the human mind wishes and interprets the world in a positive fashion, or at least that’s how we hope to interpret it. But the reality unfortunately is never any less true. Yet even so there are those, that care, those that show their love and their affection, these individuals at the facility known as Island Dolphin Care make it possible for children with such disabilities like autism to have a chance to interact and explore the world around them. They do this with one of the most loveable creatures ever, the humble dolphin. There are no words to express a picture of a young child, feeling the love and warmth of a dolphins soft touch, the dolphin does not mock or jeer the child, does not call him names, does not poke fun at him, does not add peer pressure. All the constants that define our society is left behind in an instant, and only the pure and love is left from the experience of the dolphin, and that in its entirety is what makes this experience so much more important.
 Now that you have the generalized description of what those at Island Dolphin Care do, you should understand the specifics of what the dolphins do with the kids. When they get there, including the structure, and skills performed for the kids. Each package is uniformly made to specialize and maximize and conform to the individual needs of the child. Every interval that is spent with the dolphins and the specialized trainer is also reinforced with other activities to strengthen character and confidence, to build the child’s self-esteem, and in general to make the child happy. Some of the confidence building techniques are as follows, allowing the children to feed the dolphins, which builds both trust and confidence. Another activity is to pet and hold the dolphins, which embodies a sense of love and belonging to the child. Another activity and one of the most famous, is the 1 on 1 time between the dolphin and the child, where the child gets to explore the world on his or her own, without the aid of others constantly guiding or helping, or advising, which is essential for a strong independent future.
It is interesting what they do here at Island Dolphin Care. One would imagine that to taylor every activity to every different child, would be a monumental and insurmountable challenge. Yet they have pulled it off with masterful success and grace. For example, a child that is autistic finds the activities with the dolphins boring, and begins to lash out and behave irrationally. The child is not dismissed as “cannot be helped” but instead the trainers at Island Dolphin Care sets the child up with different activities and control building exercises, some are even constructed on the spot just for him, and this is true for all cases. If one activity fails, another activity is recommended and then executed, and so on and so forth until the child finds something they enjoy. This guarantees that the child will enjoy their time spent here, and that the investment of the parents are well utilized and not squandered simply because the child is in a stubborn mood, as is common to children of that age.
Assisted DolphinTherapy
All in all the dolphin is by far one of the best creatures to assist in child therapy, or any kind of recovering therapy whatsoever. The very fact that dolphins have almost the identical range of emotions as humans, give them the greatest capacity to connect to humans on many level, not on physical and mental, but some even say spiritual. This then endorses the truth that dolphins have some kind of healing power, not necessarily the dolphin itself, but the act of being with the dolphin, and allowing this magnificent creature to show you its love and affection. Within that fact has healing potential, there is without a doubt something mystifying about this creature, something that draws the masses, and sets it apart from other animals. Some say the dolphins can interpret human emotion, they know when you are sad, when you are scared, when you are worried, when you are angry and especially when you are happy, and they are intelligent enough to decipher these emotions and act accordingly in a manner to improve your demeanor and condition regardless the situation. It is not hard to see why then, that at Island Dolphin Care these animals are responsible for changing lives every day, to bring a smile to a child that really needs some form of happiness is not measured by any monetary or fiscal amount, but only by the happiness of the children themselves. That is why within that reasoning, Island Dolphin Care has been such a great success, and hopefully their contributions to the children that need it most will increase and flourish to touch bright new stars of a coming generation.
Island Dolphin Care
Key Largo, FL
305-451-5884
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