Dolphin Assisted Therapy: Innovative Learning for Children With Disabilities

Abstract

In this article the dolphin assisted therapy is presented as an innovative method of learning for children with disabilities. The historical overview of dolphin assisted therapy is introduced. Currently it has received the legal recognition in Lithuania and expanded to family-centered programs. Newly developed dolphin assisted therapy program can be integrated into the education process of the child with disabilities as well as the whole family system. The aim of this article, then, is to focus on the dolphin assisted therapy as the classic form of animal assisted therapy, and to analyse how the dolphin assisted therapy has gained its current status as an innovative learning method for children with disabilities and their family members in Lithuanian society. Research methods. Qualitative research was conducted with content analysis. Ten families raising children with cerebral palsy participated in the research. The research results brought to the light that educational sphere supports families' wishes to visit dolphin assisted therapy, educators highlight the experiental aspect of the whole family. The research results are important for constructing the collaborative joints of educational sphere and dolphin assisted therapy. KEYWORDS: learning with animals, dolphin assisted therapy, children with disabilities.

Subjective approach towards welfare understanding in the dolphin assisted therapy: experiences of families in pilot research

“…A recent study (Rugevičius et al, 2016) evaluating the effectiveness of dolphin assisted therapy for autism spectrum disorder from long-term approach revealed that positive changes in behavior, sensory and cognitive spheres occurred in 60 percent of the children. Kreivinienė & Perttula (2014) conceptualized dolphin assisted therapy as an innovative method for learning where different learning contexts may be applied in support of dolphins.…”

“…A number of studies including animals in therapeutic activities Davis et al, 2015;Esposito et al, 2011;Kreivinienė, Perttula, 2014;Rugevičius et al, 2016) suggest that human-animal interaction impacts on the welfare of a child and the family in disability situation. Kreivinienė & Vaičekauskaitė (2010) conceptualize that dolphin assisted therapy can be viewed from the systemic perspective, when improvement in dimensions of one family member influences the improvement in inner sense of coherence of all the family system.…”