"Swimming with dolphins" has
become something of a running joke among the special-needs moms I know. We
started using it as a synonym for all ineffective and potentially dangerous
autism treatments after one mom was shunned by her family for refusing to pay
nearly $300 a week for hourly "dolphin therapy" for her nonverbal
five-year-old son. It sounds wonderful in theory, of course. Who isn't
mystified by the idea of such beautiful, sentient animals unlocking emotions
and expression in special children? From "Flipper" to "Dolphin Tale,"
we've been culturally tuned to believe that it's possible, and beautiful, for
children to develop deep connections with dolphins.
The problem is that both children and
dolphins suffer when parents resort to swimming with dolphins as a therapy for
autism. Experts on both dolphins and autism are sounding the alarm and urgently
warning parents to avoid this unproven and deadly "treatment." In
"Dolphin-Assisted
Therapy for Autism and Other Developmental Disorders: A Dangerous Fad,"
published by the American Psychological Association, two leading Emory
University experts discuss the facts about swimming with dolphins, and their
findings are grave.
After examining all available research
about swimming with dolphins for autism, dolphin expert Lori Marino and leading
psychologist Scott Lilienfeld concluded, "Despite dolphin-assisted
therapy's extensive promotion to the general public, the evidence that it
produces enduring improvements in the core symptoms of any psychological
disorder is nil." The researchers found that all studies on swimming with
dolphins for autism found little to no benefit, and the benefits that were
found were simply "novelty" and "placebo." In other words,
plenty of autistic children might find it enjoyable to swim with dolphins, but
that doesn't mean that it's a clinically valid therapy or that it's worth the
expense-- and the very serious possible drawbacks.
Marino and Lillenfield caution that
swimming with dolphins isn't harmless to try, because it's dangerous to both
dolphins and the autistic children who supposedly benefit from swimming with
them. They found several cases of children being injured while swimming with
dolphins, either because of accidents related directly to swimming or because
of injuries actually inflicted (intentionally or accidentally) by the dolphins
themselves. Just as seriously, they noted that dolphin-assisted therapy is very
expensive and that it exploits romantic hopes for a magic cure, financially
draining parents and encouraging them to forgo more effective treatments.
The greatest victims of dolphin-assisted
therapy for autism, by far, are the dolphins themselves. The World
Society for the Protection of Animals notes that dolphins in captivity are
extremely unhappy, stressed, and physically ill. These highly intelligent
animals are streamlined for life in the open ocean, where they have
opportunities to hunt, socialize, and exercise in healthy ways, but, in
captivity, they are confined to tiny spaces where they are deprived of food in
order to train them to perform unhealthy and unnatural "tricks."
For example, dolphins in captivity are
starved into beaching themselves as one "trick," which allows people
who are swimming with dolphins to pet and kiss them. In reality, this is an
excruciatingly painful trick to perform because the weight of the dolphin's body
is not made to be supported outside the water. Due to the tiny size of their
enclosures, the animals are also unable to use their complex language of clicks
and whistles to communicate with one another. It's like being trapped in a
bathroom with five other people, with your mouths all duct-taped shut so you
can't speak. Dolphins in captivity "look happy" because their jaws
are naturally shaped in a way that gives them a natural "smile," but
they are miserable.
As friendly and pleasant as dolphins seem,
and as peacefully as many of them endure their lives of misery, these unhealthy
environments can bring out dangerous behavior. We can't ignore the fact that
captive dolphins are 400-pound, wild predators. Parents wouldn't put their
special-needs children into cages with "tame" lions in hopes of a
magical experience, so why should it we leave our children at the mercy of
captive dolphins? It's unwise, and arguably abusive to both the child and the
dolphin, to assume that a large, stressed, sick predator will not lash out
unpredictably in a way that could harm your child.
My six-year-old autistic daughter is
receiving dolphin therapy in another way-- a way that doesn't threaten her
safety or the well-being of wild animals. She knows that we do not visit zoos
or aquariums that keep dolphins in captivity, and she learns about them in
other ways that are far more soothing and therapeutic than a rollick in a pool
with some stressed-out animals. Instead, we watch documentaries, read books,
and sponsor wild dolphins. It's a "therapy" that has encouraged my
daughter to express deep empathy and passion for the needs of wild marine
mammals. I'll gladly take that instead of an expensive one-on-one session with
an abused animal.
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