SWIMMING WITH WILD DOLPHINS IN PANAMA CITY

THERAPEUTIC PROGRAMMES: DOLPHINS & CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
June - August

How to Book
Contact 'Wild and Free' by Email and the organiser will contact you.

Two options:

1. HARMONY PROGRAM
See Video: Harmony Program

See Video: Harmony Interviews

The emotional impact of a dolphin encounter in his own environment combined  with  expressive art, massage, watsu and music can be a beneficial experience for emotionally challenged and fragile children.We find that our "Harmony"  program can help a wide variety of children: most spectra of autism, manic  depression, Rett Syndrome, Turrets Syndrome, ADHD, Down, hyperactivity, etc.  We can also help children with more general mental and emotional disorders or difficulties in social adaptation and even children with terminal illnesses (cystic  fibrosis, cancer, leukemia, etc.)

Water Planet's Harmony Program caters to children with emotional and mental challenges with sensory integration issues or simply with social adaptation difficulties. Some of the children, who went through our program were in the Autism Spectrum, Down Syndrome, ADHD or had serious behavioral issues without a specific diagnosis. Several charitable non profit organization and foundations send us children and families. Make-A-Wish Foundation chose us for the wishes of 2 children in 2002. We also work with the Alexander Trust in England and Happy Dolphins Encounters, asbl in Brussels

We also have had children with terminal diseases like Cystic Fibrosis, cancer, Leukemia or other. The experience we offer to those children combines the emotional impact of wild dolphins encounters with various disciplines like expressive arts, massage, watsu and music. Our goal is to make an experience available to these children (with or without their family), which will enrich them and help them open up to their social environment through the attraction they feel for dolphins and the excitement with which they approach marine creatures and the mysterious world of the ocean in general.

A dolphin encounter in the wild is an extraordinary experience. The adventure of being face to face in the ocean with a large and wild air-breathing mammal is a powerful one that will not easily be forgotten and that many can only live in their dreams, especially in our society, where we are mostly living in a controlled environment without direct contact with the wilderness. A wild dolphins is a symbol of freedom. He triggers in us these feelings of joy, excitement, wonder, sometimes awe, even rapture for some. Therapy with dolphins deals with using the strong emotional release of this experience to disrupt social barriers and inhibitions.

In Panama City Beach, we have the incredible privilege to have a continuous relationship with a group of wild dolphins. This close contact has been going on for over 25 years. It is partly associated with hand feeding of these mammals by sports fishing boats and tourists. Our organization is proud never to have fed them and we make a point of informing every participant to our programs of the hazards associated with feeding wild dolphins. It is illegal to do so since 1993.

We believe that the reason for this interaction is not limited to an interest in food but that it is also based on keen curiosity. The dolphins investigate us as much as we investigate them. They often interact with us through play. We have been getting in the water with them for seven years and we have built a special relationship with some individuals, who approach us on a regular basis. We are taking advantage of this precious opportunity to introduce children and their families, who all open up in amazement. We have noticed a significant improvement in communication skills with children who have participated in our program.

This program is made available to families thanks to a team of professionals: psychologists, aquatic bodywork specialists and special education teachers.

We are pleased to announce this year's therapeutic dolphin swim program. This special "journey" is designed to provide an experience of therapy, fun, dolphin encounters, social time, and some RR to enjoy the beautiful beaches of Panama City Beach.

Price of the program: $1,350* per child - $750* per accompanying adult - $1,050* per sibling following the whole program. The price includes all excursions, animation, therapeutic sessions and educational package. It does not include lodging, transportation or food (except BBQ)
Price based on a minimum participation of 4 children. *Add 6.5% Florida sales tax.

2. SERENITY PROGRAM
See Video: Serenity Program

 Introducing special needs children to dolphins in their natural environment.
 Aquatic bodyworks, physical and occupational therapy with expressive arts used as therapeutic  aids. This program caters to children with serious developmental  delays, physical and motor disabilities like cerebral palsy, Head and Spinal Cord  Injury, Mitocondrial Disorder. Spina Bifida, Muscular Dystrophy, Angelman's  Syndrome and other disabilities, which require mechanical interventions. The  specific therapeutic regimes are established by the children's therapists and applied  by specialists in PT, OT, MT with some new techniques like cranio sacral  therapy, WATSU and energy work. These activities, combined with the  expressive art and music workshops, take place afternoons after the dolphin  encounter trips.

We have designed a program where we introduce special-needs children and their families to wild dolphins as a motivating and bonding experience. The adventure of being face to face in the ocean with a large and wild air-breathing mammal is a powerful one that will not easily be forgotten and that many can live only in their dreams. We all carry this dream deep in our subconscious and its realization will often awaken some deep-seated emotions and cause important developmental shifts. Another aspect of our program is the sensory integration and the processing of the inner experience through various media like colors, shapes, textures, odors and sounds during the expressive art and music sessions.

Combined with hydrotherapy, massage and Watsu (Water Shiatsu), the experience facilitates relaxation and the letting go of conflicts and hang-ups. The program also helps families enjoy themselves and forget the burden of their daily routine and the stigma imposed on them by our society.

Contrarily to the regular Dolphin Assisted therapy sessions, we are implementing this program with free ranging dolphins because we do not believe in holding wild animals captive even for the benefit of disabled children. We believe in the healing power of nature and of its environment. We also believe that therapy with dolphins or dolphin therapy is just another form of animal therapy. In other circumstances, therapists have also obtained excellent results with autistic children, ADHD, Down Syndrome and other disabilities using horses or even cats and dogs. The fact that dolphins have a very sophisticated communication system and social organization make them all the more attractive to us humans.

In Panama City Beach, we have the incredible privilege to have a continuous relationship with a group of wild dolphins. This close contact has been going on for over 25 years. It is partly associated with hand feeding of these mammals by sports fishing boats and tourists. Dolphins are opportunistic feeders and they will take advantage of an easily earned source of extra food. Our organization is proud never to have fed them and we make a point to inform every participants to our programs of the hazards associated with feeding wild dolphins. It is illegal to do so since 1993.

We believe that the reason for this interaction is not limited to an interest in food but that it is also based on keen curiosity. The dolphins investigate us as much as we investigate them. They often interact with us through play. We have been getting in the water with them for six years and have built a special relationship with some individuals, who approach us on a regular basis. We are using this opportunity to study them underwater and also to introduce to them some mentally, emotionally and physically impaired children. This experience of wild life and of the natural environment is a strong motivation for challenged children and their families We have noticed a significant improvement in communication skills with children who have participated in our program.

This program is made available to families thanks to a team of professionals: psychologists, aquatic bodywork specialists, special education teachers, occupational therapists and physical therapists.

We are pleased to announce this year's therapeutic dolphin swim program. This special "journey" is designed to provide an experience of therapy, fun, dolphin encounters, social time, and some RR to enjoy the beautiful beaches of Panama City Beach.

Price of the program:
$2,950* per disabled child plus 1 accompanying adult
$2,250* per disabled sibling of a registered disabled child plus 1 accompanying adult
$1,750* per disabled sibling of a registered disabled child without additional parent
$750* per person for all additional participants. Additional participants have access to all of the activities, including a watsu session but no PT and OT treatments. These are meant to be administered to disabled children only.
The price includes all excursions (no transport), animation, therapeutic sessions and educational package.
Price is based on a minimum participation of 4 disabled children and we reserve the right to cancel the session if we do not have 4 families signed up.* Add 6.5 % Florida sales tax.

How to Book
Contact 'Wild and Free' by Email and the organiser will contact you.

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