Salgueiro Emílio, Nunes Laura, Barros Alexandra, Maroco João, Salgueiro Ana Isabel, Dos Santos Manuel E
Unidade de Investigação em Psicologia e Saúde, ISPA - Instituto Universitário, Lisbon, Portugal.
BMC Res Notes. 2012 Apr 26;5:199. doi: 10.1186/1756-0500-5-199.
Interaction programs involving dolphins and patients with various pathologies or developmental disorders (e.g., cerebral palsy, intellectual impairment, autism, atopic dermatitis, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression) have stimulated interest in their beneficial effects and therapeutic potential. However, the true effects observed in different clinical and psycho-educational setups are still controversial.
An evaluation protocol consisting of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), Psychoeducational Profile-Revised (PEP-R), Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC), Theory of Mind Tasks (ToM Tasks) and a custom-made Interaction Evaluation Grid (IEG) to evaluate behavioural complexity during in-pool interactions was applied to 10 children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The ATEC, ToM Tasks and CARS results show no benefits of the dolphin interaction program. Interestingly, the PEP-R suggests some statistically significant effects on 'Overall development score', as well as on their 'Fine motor development', 'Cognitive performance' and 'Cognitive verbal development'. Also, a significant evolution in behavioural complexity was shown by the IEG.
This study does not support significant developmental progress resulting from the dolphin interaction program.
涉及海豚与患有各种疾病或发育障碍（如脑瘫、智力障碍、自闭症、特应性皮炎、创伤后应激障碍、抑郁症）患者的互动项目激发了人们对其有益效果和治疗潜力的兴趣。然而，在不同临床和心理教育环境中观察到的真实效果仍存在争议。
一个评估方案，包括儿童自闭症评定量表（CARS）、修订版心理教育档案（PEP-R）、自闭症治疗评估清单（ATEC）、心理理论任务（ToM任务）以及一个定制的互动评估网格（IEG），用于评估泳池内互动期间的行为复杂性，应用于10名被诊断为自闭症谱系障碍的儿童。ATEC、ToM任务和CARS的结果显示海豚互动项目没有益处。有趣的是，PEP-R表明对“总体发育得分”以及“精细运动发育”、“认知表现”和“认知语言发育”有一些统计学上的显著影响。此外，IEG显示行为复杂性有显著变化。
本研究不支持海豚互动项目能带来显著发育进步的观点。
