Next to Mile Marker 59 on Highway 1, the narrow road that crosses the Florida Keys, there's a tall green statue of a dolphin mother and baby. Just behind it, among rusty-leaved sea grapes and palmettos, is the Dolphin Research Center, where Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphins help to heal neurologically damaged children and adults.
A boardwalk heads out toward the placid waters of the Gulf of Mexico, bisecting pools separated by wire fences decorated with windblown seaweed. There, a few elderly sea lions and fifteen lively dolphins frolic.
As the dolphins shoot through the water or erupt in mighty, glittering silver arcs, the fences seem absurd. The dolphins can easily leap out into the open sea, and sometimes they do. But invariably they return. Unfortunately, captive dolphins lose the ability to hunt for food. There's another, happier, reason they stay. Dolphins like humans and seek us out.
Richard O'Barry, former trainer for the famous dolphin Flipper, describes dolphins' uncannily human characteristics. "Dolphins are not little windup toys. There're complex individuals with likes and dislikes, fears, moods, and dispositions, good days and bad."
Neuropsychologist David Nathanson, director of dolphin child research at the center, knew that he wanted to use animals in his work with children with learning disabilities and neurological problems. The benefits of animal therapy have long been known. Colorado psychiatrist James Kagan says: "People feel comfortable with animals. Animals seem capable of unconditional love. They don't pull on us or expect something from us. When disabled people are in an atmosphere of this unconditional acceptance, safety, comfort, nurturing, and tolerance, they are likely to reach their potential."
After considering chimpanzees because of their intelligence, Nathanson decided they were too aggressive and chose dolphins instead. He embarked upon a controlled study of six disabled boys ranging in age from twenty months to ten years. Because his findings on the benefits of dolphin therapy were positive, the program has continued with more children and adults.
In 1988 Nathanson reported his results to the twenty-fourth International Congress of Psychology in a paper that was later chosen for publication. During a six-month period, the boys were taught in two settings, the hyperactive dolphin pool and on a one-to-one basis in a nondistracting classroom. Keeping in mind that the dolphin pool had emotional rewards, the teachers were careful to show a lot of affection during the classroom learning times, especially rewarding success with hugs.
The three younger children, Billy, Danny, and Jeremy, had Down's syndrome and delayed speech. Five-year-old Mando had hydrocephaly and developmental delays in all areas of functioning. Chris, six, had severe aphasia (inability to speak) and other developmental problems, the results of meningitis suffered as an infant. Ten-year-old Robert had no speech, suffered seizures, and had extremely poor gross and fine motor coordination.
Square wooden boards - painted white and with black line drawings of pictures selected from the Peabody psychological test -
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