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Cognitive and speech development are delayed in children with Down syndrome (DS). We investigated the effect of dolphin-assisted therapy (DAT), a form of animal-assisted intervention, on the develo...

Dolphin-assisted therapy has frequently been criticized for a lack of empirical results and theoretical foundation. In this study, results from an innovative dolphin-assisted therapy program for children with disabilities are presented. The therapeutic program is based on a sophisticated framework and developed with reference to previous findings about special education interventions. Parental involvement was integrated purposefully into the dolphin–child interaction to initiate an improvement in parent–child interactions. The effectiveness of this approach was supported in a controlled pretest-posttest design with matched samples. Pre-testing was conducted 4 weeks before dolphin-assisted therapy commenced, and post-testing occurred 4 weeks and 6 months after it finished. In total, 47 children with disabilities (Down syndrome, physical or mental retardation) and their parents and pedagogic-therapeutic staff participated in the study. The results of the parental questionnaires showed stable, positi...

The goal of this study was to test if dolphin-assisted therapy could be an effective therapeutic intervention for children with significant social and communication disabilities. Furthermore, it was crucial to determine the relative importance of the dolphin and the parent consultation factors implicit in the therapy. The method employed was a before-and-after comparison of three control groups and one experimental group. In the experimental group, all three aspects of the therapeutic intervention—interaction with dolphins, parent counseling and a curative, relaxed environment—were included. Control group 1 (outpatient therapy group) was limited to just interaction with dolphins. In control group 2 (farm animal group), the parents were counseled after the children interacted with farm animals (which replaced dolphins). Control group 3 received no treatment. The post-treatment parent questionnaire results revealed therapeutic success in the areas of both productive and receptive language, processin...

Dolphin-Assisted Therapy (DAT) is an increasingly popular choice of treatment for illness and developmental disabilities by providing participants with the opportunity to swim or interact with live captive dolphins. Two reviews of DAT (Marino and Lilienfeld (1998) and Humphries (2003)) concluded that there is no credible scientific evidence for the effectiveness of this intervention. In this paper, we offer an update of the methodological status of DAT by re- viewing five peer-reviewed DAT studies published in the last eight years. We found that all five studies were methodologically flawed and plagued by sev- eral threats to both internal and construct validity. We conclude that nearly a decade following our initial review, there remains no compelling evidence that DAT is a legitimate therapy or that it affords any more than fleeting improve- ments in mood.

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) has been shown to reduce the loneliness of residents in long-term care facilities (LTCFs). In this study, we determined the relative contribution of socialization (human–human bonding) and human–animal bonding as mechanisms by which AAT reduces loneliness. Residents in LTCFs volunteering for AAT were randomized to receive AAT as individuals (Individual) or in groups of two to four (Group). Individual AAT was used as a measure of animal–human bonding, and Group AAT was used as a measure of the combination of animal–human bonding and socialization. Any greater effect of Group AAT in comparison to Individual AAT would be ascribed to socialization. Thirty-seven residents of LTCFs, who were cognitively intact, volunteered for AAT, and scored as significantly lonely on the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3), were studied. Six weeks of AAT, one 30-minute session per week, in an individual or group setting was performed, with posttesting during week five. Two residents dropped...

(1998). Dolphin-Assisted Therapy: Flawed Data, Flawed Conclusions. Anthrozoos: Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 194-200.

Long-term effectiveness of dolphin assisted therapy, as practiced by Dolphin Human Therapy, was analyzed via a 15 item closed form, ratio scale parent questionnaire (n=71). Children with severe disabilities of many etiologies, from eight countries, received either one or two weeks of therapy in the multidisciplinary, behavior modification program. Results on three clinical issues were analyzed. First, children maintained or improved skills acquired in therapy about 50% of the time even after 12 months away from therapy. Second, no difference in long-term effects occurred as a function of differences in three categories (genetic, brain damage, unknown causes) of etiology (ANOVA, F(2,39)=2.79, p>0.05). Third, two weeks of therapy produced significantly better long-term results than did one week of therapy (t=3.105, df=28, p

The effectiveness of two week dolphin-assisted therapy was compared to the effectiveness of six month conventional physical and speech-language therapy. Data were analyzed using a multiple baseline single subject across settings design, for 47 children with severe disabilities (20 females, 27 males), of multiple etiologies. Children were placed in a physical therapy group (n = 17, mean age = 6 years, 8 months) and a speech language group (n = 30, mean age = 6 years 5 months). Standardized charting procedures were used to measure acquisition of independent motor and speech-language skills. Use of t tests for nonindependent samples indicates that relative to conventional long-term therapy, dolphin-assisted therapy, as practiced by Dolphin Human Therapy, achieves positive results more quickly and is also more cost effective.