There are two "main" types of healthcare, "traditional" and "alternative." Traditional Health Care includes family physicians, nurses, surgeons, specialists of pediatrics, pregnancy, elderly care, and internal medicine, to name a few. The field of "alternative" health care contains areas such as chiropractic, acupuncture, herbalist, spiritual, massage, and holistic. The list of alternative and traditional health care practices is growing by leaps and bounds yearly, monthly, and even daily. One of the newest additions to the area of "alternative" medicine is "Dolphin Assisted Therapy," also referred to as "DAT."
The International Symposium on Dolphin Assisted Therapy, which is hosted by the Dolphin Discovery and the AquaThought Foundation), is an organization that uses contact between humans and dolphins to restore health, and the feeling of life, to those who suffer from chronic illnesses, disabilities, or disorders. The techniques that are used range from contact and play to the results of sound on the level of consciousness.
DAT is not a new concept, just new in practice. Statistics are few, but the positive results have been told over and over again. Two of the many success stories include Frances Arnold and Josh Schmidt.
Frances Arnold, who is writing a book titled "The Dolphin Circle" which will include her story along with those of others, suffered from the effects of lymphoma for years. Frances declares that with the help of DAT she has recovered both her health and her life. Her full story is available at (http://fp.premier1.net/iamdavid/article6...). Josh Schmidt is an autistic child. He has been said to be "nonverbal" relating to his moderate to severe autism. Josh's mother, Dorothy, states that "I've maybe only heard him say two words." That was before Josh became involved with DAT. Dorothy expresses that Josh wants very badly to get into the water and interact with the dolphins. She adds that Josh is "getting more out of [DAT] than tons of therapists in our home town have ever gotten out of him. Josh's full story, along with stories of other children, can be viewed at (http://www.nextstep.com/stepback/cycle9/...).
The majority of patients that take part in DAT are children, such as Josh, who suffer from autism, Down's syndrome, spinal bifoda, and other movement limiting disorders. DAT has also been used to increase learning and speech in children, and adults, with mental retardation. Patients with depression, Stress, and those who suffer from PTSD, (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), have also benefited from the DAT program.
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