Hello all! This is the link I found about elephant-assisted therapy for children with disabilities:
http://www.equine-therapy-programs.com/elphant-assisted-therapy.html
Elephant assisted therapy is mostly practiced in South Africa and Jerusalem. Psychologist Dr. Swanepoel originally started off with studying dolphin assisted therapy and moved on to researching the therapeutic qualities that elephants could have on children with disabilities. Elephants are overprotective and gentle with their young and seem to sense when they are near an individual with a disability.
There was a particular story on this website that involved a ten-year old little girl that was born without eyes. She couldn't perform daily tasks on her own and was very fearful to attempt anything out of the norm. After being introduced to an elephant named Boelie, she became very interested in the elephant's size and texture. Within three months, the little girl was able to go tot he restroom on her own, clothe herself, walk up and down stairs, and read braille. Most of all, she gained a significant amount of confidence! I just really enjoyed this a lot-I have never heard about elephants (or even dolphins, for that matter) being used for animal assisted therapy sessions. Absolutely amazing! Now imagine bringing that into your classroom :) Animals have such amazing powers...
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Wow! This is really cool! It just goes to show that the area we live in provides different opportunities for animals and the use of them theraputically within the classroom.
ReplyDeleteThe confidence that the blind girl gained from her interactions with the elephant truly had positive educational effects on her. It makes you wonder what children in our area could gain from this.
Audri,
ReplyDeleteI think this is so cool! Elephants boost confidence!! :) I think it is empowering to know how much of a connection people can have with animals!
Laura,
I agree, I think is does really make you wonder what kind of an educational impact they could have from different things or activities like this around us.
I just read the article about elephant assisted therapy…that is so cool! When I think of animals that are therapeutic I think of cats and dogs and other furry animals. : ) I would have never thought of an elephant to be used as animal assisted therapy. I was amazed to learn how gentle the elephants are with the children. I never knew how much a person could gain from this kind of experience, it is truly amazing! I also think it was neat that the children learn take care of the elephants by feedings, cleaning and petting them.
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