Dolphin Assisted Therapy, Autism & Pseudoscience

Dolphin Assisted Therapy (DAT) is a type of dolphin swim program that is purported to be an effective treatment for autism and other conditions. Offered worldwide, these programs typically involve the participant touching, swimming with, or being towed around by captive dolphins while engaged in more traditional tasks.
Parents of autistic children and others are charged thousands of dollars and led to believe that they are engaging in real therapy. There is no oversight or accreditation for DAT.
Several peer-reviewed scientific papers have shown that DAT rests upon weak methodological grounds and there is currently no evidence that DAT has any long-term therapeutic impact. Yet, it continues to be marketed to desperate parents and people seeking relief for their problems.
In this webinar we describe the standard DAT protocol and discuss why it is a pseudoscience - a practice mistakenly considered scientific. And we discuss the considerable risks to participants of injury and disease transmission associated with swimming with captive dolphins, as well as the exploitive and abusive practices that force dolphins into DAT performances.
We also highlight some of the faulty assumptions that may follow when one pursues an experience that’s touted as a “therapy” and we offer some important questions to ask providers.
Host: Dr. Lori Marino, neuroscientist and President of Whale Sanctuary Project.
Special Guest: Dr. David Celiberti, behavior analyst and Executive Director, Association for Science in Autism Treatment.
For more details, visit the Sanctuary section of the website at whalesanctuary.org/the-sanctuary .
And to donate and help create the sanctuary itself go to whalesanctuary.org/donate
Your support is greatly appreciated!