The Oceanogràfic, located in the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia is the largest aquarium in Europe and contains specimens of the main marine ecosystems in the world including dolphins.

The aquarium has got under way a pilot program for autistic children to study the effect of dolphin assisted therapy on the improvement their quality of life. The benefits of dolphin therapy have been studied since 1950 and in the 80s it became popular as alternative therapy for patients suffering from neurology diseases.

This project is sponsored by the Ministry of Welfare from Valencia, the Catholic University of Valencia and the City of Arts and Sciences. Fernando Mulas, director of the Pediatric Neurology Institute in Valencia (INVANEP) said to RTVE.es that the project is intended to “demonstrate that dolphin therapy has a positive effect in autistic children”.

“Nowadays, there is little scientific evidence about the effects of dolphin therapy in autistic children. We want to obtain scientific data about the effect of dolphins on people with neurology diseases”, commented Mulas.

Animal therapies have been carried out for decades using horses, donkeys, and sea lions among others, but this project will be specially focused in dolphins. “Dolphins are joyful and social animals which emit sounds that are attractive for autistic children who have problems to interact with other human beings”, said the director of the institute.

The therapy sessions will be conducted five times a day for a three-week period. Each child will be accompanied by the trainer of the animal, a therapist, a physiotherapist and two external observers (a neuropsychologist and a speech therapist). Each session will last 50 minutes, 10 of them inside the water. During each session doctors and scientists will record different parameters to evaluate the evolution of each child before and after the therapy. The study will continue three moths after the ending of the dolphin therapy to evaluate the residual effects of the experience.

Researchers are convinced of the positive effects of dolphin therapy, but they want to have proofs of that before using this therapy on children suffering from brain paralysis and attention deficit disorders.

http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20101011/poder-terapeutico-delfines/360098.shtml