LONG-TERM EFFECTIVENESS OF DOLPHIN-ASSISTED THERAPY FOR CHILDREN WITHSEVERE DISABILITIES

Long-term effectiveness of dolphin assisted therapy, as practiced by D olphin Human Therapy, was analyzed via a 15 item closed form, ratio sc ale parent questionnaire (n=71). Children with severe disabilities of many etiologies, from eight countries, received either one or two week s of therapy in the multidisciplinary, behavior modification program. Results on three clinical issues were analyzed. First, children mainta ined 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 (ge netic, brain damage, unknown causes) of etiology (ANOVA, F-(2,F-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<0.0 1).