DOLPHINAID: Help a child experience a miracle!
Dolphin aid was founded by Kirsten Kuhnert after her own son woke up from Coma after a tragic accident, while interacting with his dolphin friend Spunky in the florida keys.
It became her mission and subsequently the mission of hundreds of helpers, to enable families with special needs children participate in a treatment program in one of the dolphin aid certified centers, where dolphins live in their natural environment and are equally treated as partners in therapy. Today dolphin aid exists on three continents and the foundation has grown to an institution, that combines the will to make a difference in the life of children, facing challenges, be it a physical, mental or traumatic, and to assure the well beeing of our beloved dolphins.
In dolphin aid certified centers, such as the Curacao Dolphin Therapy and Research Center, a team of professional therapists, in shorts and T-shirts, treat the children also according to principles of behavioral therapy and operant conditioning which involves rewarding positive behavior. The children participate in a two-week program, with two hours of therapy each day.
The key to the success of the program? A natural environment for the dolphins, their freedom to interact individually with their little friends and a committed team of experts in rehabilitation, who strives to make hard work look like fun. And so it is, that the results are remarkable after two weeks of this intense rehabilitation. What is always impressive is, how much the little
and also the big patients enjoy swimming with their dolphin in the Caribbean seawater, after intense work with their personal speech therapist, physical therapist, occupational therapist or psychologist.
The children discover that the prior exercises they participated in during speech therapy or the coordination skills they worked on in physical therapy, all of a sudden have a meaning, because they improved their ability to play and joyfully interact with their dolphins. The fun and relaxation that beeing with the dolphins offers them, motivates the children to trust their own strength.
Since its foundation in 1995, dolphin aid has supported thousands of children and has set concepts, guidelines and standards in the context of dolphin assisted therapy.
Dolphin aid…….. trust in competence!
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