Brit parents with autistic children paying thousands for 'scam dolphin therapy'
EXCLUSIVE: A Sunday People investigation found marine parks in Turkey charge British parents up to £2,500 for the unproven "treatment", claiming autistic children will see significant benefits from contact with dolphins
Marine parks in Turkey are charging British parents with autistic children thousands of pounds for unproven dolphin therapy “treatment”.
Some of the centres claim sonar signals “activate brain cells” if children touch heads with the mammals.
Staff at one waterpark visited by the Sunday People even claimed children unable to speak had uttered their first words after contact with dolphins.
Dozens of other parks offer services online – some claiming therapy can beat cancer and aid people with Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The centres, which also host cruel dolphin shows, charge people up to £2,500, assuring parents that their child will see significant benefits.
A dolphin therapist and another staff (right) member from Aksu Dolphinarium, in Antalya, speak about the dolphin therapy sessions they offer(Image: Andy Commins/Daily Mirror)
But experts accuse them of offering false hope.
Prof Richard Mills, a consultant for AT-Autism and former research director at the National Autistic Society, said: “It’s exploiting people to spend a lot of money on something where there is no evidence of any benefits.”
We visited three parks in or near Antalya – Aksu Dolphinarium, Dolphinland and Dolphin Park Kemer.
Aksu said British people “come more and more”.
A dolphin at Dolphin Park Kemer in Turkey(Image: Andy Commins/Daily Mirror)
Kemer said many come from the UK. Dolphinland told us “not so many English” people come.
All three parks claimed potential benefits for autistic people.
To examine the claims we took autism awareness campaigner Emma Dalmayne, 44, and her autistic children Damien, 12, and Skylar, seven.
Emma, who is also autistic, was horrified when she saw a therapy session at Dolphinland.
She said: “Don’t waste your money, it’s a scam.”
Emma and her two children Damien and Skylar at the Aksu Dolphinarium, in Antalya(Image: Andy Commins/Daily Mirror)
Emma was told by Aksu staff that her children would only show benefits six months later – at which point she should buy another ten-day course for £2,500 per child to maintain progress.
One therapist bragged how staff would coax her kids to swim even if distressed, adding: “Even if he cries, it’s normal for him to cry.”
Emma said: “When I heard them talking about my child’s brain it was horrifying.
“It’s yet another scam to fleece naive parents who are wasting thousands that could be spent on a more beneficial pastime that would give the children tools to cope in the world.”
A member of staff from Dolphin Park Kemer speaks about the dolphin therapy sessions they offer(Image: Andy Commins/Daily Mirror)
None of the centres we spoke to guaranteed improvement or a cure.
But all three said there were long-term benefits for autism and tried to sell Emma ten sessions.
Aksu staff said: “It cannot heal but it can make it better. It’s not a cure, it’s just a treatment but you can make it better and dolphin therapy makes it better.”
A rep showed images of children touching heads with the mammals to exchange “waves”.
He said: “Electromagnetic waves help activate the brain of children. In some cases they can lose symptoms.”
A therapist at Dolphinland told us the animals have “signals and vibrations” and “they send these signals everywhere”.
She claimed: “For the kids with autism it helps so much. We have the kids that come every year and they’re better every year.
“If they don’t speak, for example, they start talking after therapy. Yes!”
Dolphin centres in Turkey claim that they can help children overcome autism and other illnesses and ailments by swimming with their captive dolphins(Image: Andy Commins/Daily Mirror)
Emma says Damien and Skylar have sensory issues which can lead to “flapping, gritting of teeth, spinning and repeating things to calm down”.
When she asked if these symptoms could be helped by dolphins, the therapist at Dolphinland said: “Yes of course” – adding that the children could lose “some of the bad energy”.
Asked outright if it would “heal” a lot of her children’s behaviours, Emma was told: “We hope so. Not all the kids are better. But you may try.”
The parks charge an extortionate amount of money(Image: Andy Commins/Daily Mirror)
We saw a session at Dolphinland, where the creatures are also made to perform tricks like throwing balls and catching hoops in shows.
Twin girls aged four spent 30 minutes with two “therapists” and two dolphins in their 32 x 25 metre pool.
One child screamed and cried as the dolphins rolled over so the girls could stroke them.
Their mother, from Craiova, Romania, said they were on day seven of ten and admitted her twins were “afraid” of the animals.
She said: “We need to wait six months but we are coming in August again.”
Watching the therapy session left Emma distressed.
The mum of six, from Plumstead, South London, said: “It was heartbreaking to see animals in pools with children screaming and crying. It’s cruelty mixed with fake therapy.
"My children’s reactions were horror, anger and sadness for the children we saw.
“I had to leave and cry. My son asked, why are they doing this? He’s very upset.”
Our investigation revealed how parents are paying thousands for the so-called therapy(Image: Andy Commins/Daily Mirror)
When asked if Dolphin Park Kemer practitioners were medically trained and experienced with autism, the rep there said: “He’s experienced in making therapy, in how to stand in the water and play with the dolphin.
“It’s for the nervous system. Therapists stay in the water with the child... when you put your head underwater you can hear the signal. Honestly you don’t need a doctor. I can say this. This is something alternative for the child.”
When Emma asked if therapy could stop her children “flapping and making noises” he replied “yes”, before adding: “I cannot guarantee you will see these effects, nobody can say this.”
Asked again if it is a “good treatment for autism”, he insisted: “Yes, yes, yes.”
Prof Mills said: “Dolphin therapy promotes a narrative that autism can be cured. We know it can't. We suspect any benefit from swimming with them is social. To take it to a pseudo-scientific level about brainwaves is too far.”
We visited all three parks in March. They closed because of Covid but have reopened and are offering therapy.
One of the parks admitted there was no "medical side" to it(Image: Andy Commins/Daily Mirror)
A spokesman for Aksu Dolphinarium admitted: “There is no medical side of this, it’s not proved yet. But there is a business side for us.”
He insisted the therapy works for “nearly 100 German families” that visit regularly. He described the therapy as a “love story between animal lovers” and defended the conditions in which the dolphins are kept.
Dolphinland said: “If it is a question on how therapy works and the scientific background and the therapy, you can approach me and write me and email and read my documents on the internet. If you want information on dolphin therapy, read our website.”
I am in many Facebook groups which promote the Chlorine Dioxide (CD) protocol. Not to use it myself but to catch people using it on vulnerable adults and children. These children are usually autistic though we have seen CD touted to cure Down Syndrome, Cystic Fibrosis and Cerebral Palsy.
Parents are being told that parasites are causing their children’s conditions, mainly by a woman named Kerri Rivera who has written a book called Healing The Symptoms Known As Autism. It is advised in the book to use a highly restricted gluten free casein free fruit free diet, and to administer CD orally and rectally in enemas.
Chlorine Dioxide is used for water purification, it is put into drinking water in minute quantities. 1 drop is enough to sterilise 1 litre of water. Its also used to bleach wood pulp and disinfect swimming pools.
Put simply, its bleach.
It was in one of these groups that I came upon a 21 year old Autistic man from Germany asking advice on CD use. He was advised by an admin named that he had already been told CD could cure him. The man in question was seeking help for what he believes are side “symptoms of autism,candida.” His symptoms, he says, are “brain fog and exhaustion.”
I messaged the poster and begged him not to continue using it. I told him that I too am Autistic and sent him links and videos to prove CD is bleach. Thankfully he listened and I went on to add him to
my support group.
I asked him a set of questions and have put his answers as given.
May I ask your diagnosis?
Autism.
Where did you hear of CD?
Internet, mainly several MMS groups.
Where did you buy it from?
From a chemicals online shop, sodium chlorite 25% and HCl 4%
Who advised you on it and told you it would work?
First time in a german mms group, many advocates, they said it could even cure autism
What effect did it have?
. Nothing positive. But i had to throw up just at the thought of having to take it
How many drops did you take?
. From 3x 1drop daily to 3x 8drops
How often did you take them?
Once in the morning, 2times at night
Would you ever advise use of CD for autism?
It had no positive effect on me. I definitely wont ever take that disgusting stuff again
In your opinion did speaking to me help you decide to stop taking CD?
Definitely.
To me this is a success story and the young man in question promised to go and seek medical advice. He will also be asking his doctor for further tests and looking into Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
There are so many more autistic children and adults being abused which is why we need to get legislation in first the UK and then rest of Europe against the sale, promotion and use of Chlorine Dioxide bleach as a cure for autism.
Please sign the attached petition and complete the survey I worked on with The Westminster Autism Commission on fake cures and treatments.
Wonderful writing here by Jorge Vinson. Spoiler Alert: Sharing personal stuff… So, for a long time I’ve struggled with a lot of things in life. One the hardest struggles was figuring out where I belong, or where I fit… Never understood why I felt so different, or “not normal.” Why some called me weird or why my emotions (or lack thereof) were so difficult to deal with, and understand… it led me to a lot of really dark places… I found out it was because I’m on the Autism Spectrum (more specifically, Asperger’s Syndrome; even though it isnt called that anymore apparently) after having learned that I believed I found, or could potentially find that piece I felt I was missing. And it was rough at first, things got darker, and I became even more lost due to the criticism I had received, and the opinions I heard… like: “you don’t look autistic to me” or “you’re just antisocial, but definitely NOT autistic,” or “you are just depressed” and the best one “nah that’s definitely a misdiagnosis”… I didn’t know how to feel about anything. But now, I feel I’m at the beginning of self acceptance and understanding of why I am the way I am… and even though I hit a lot of speed bumps, I’m at the point where its time to be kinder to myself… I may be terrible at understanding people, their emotions, my emotions, and what I go through on the inside, and maybe I dont fit in anywhere, but I refuse to let it bring me down. Gonna make my own place to fit in… I made a self portrait to try and visualize what it was like to go through the ups and downs, thinking I was crazy at one point but it turns out…it is all me. And me is okay… I call it “Broken Spectrum” Not because I’m broken, or the ASD spectrum is broken…but because I want the stigma broken. Because they are all me.
As a teenager on the autism spectrum, I feel deflated when I stumble across articles centered around some ‘wonder drug’ that’s claimed to cure autism. One of my pet peeves is the fact that people treat autism as an illness or inferiority that needs to be cured.
My head fills with a variety of questions:
Why would anyone want to cure autism?
How can people be so hateful?
I believe it’s ignorant that individuals are more interested in curing us rather than taking the time to understand us and accept us for who we are. Autism is a neurological difference so it’s not a disease; this basic fact makes all the difference (well, to me it does).
We are wired differently to neurotypicals. If people took the time to understand that, maybe they’d actually accept that autism is not a disease.
Maybe then they’d embrace us and feel the need to accept us.
Maybe then they’d stop categorizing our difference as an epidemic and actually educate themselves on Autism rather than expect those on the spectrum to do it for them.
I understand that raising a child who is pre-verbal and finds it hard to cope with change and sensory input, in particular, can be challenging for the parents.
I acknowledge the everyday struggles these families must face, and I admire the parents who strive to advocate and do the absolute best for their children. Believe it or not, I was in a regression phase when I was diagnosed (at 3) but I now have learned to cope and to cater for any difficulties I may have.
Sure, I get it’s difficult for the families, but my sympathy ends when I find articles promoting a wondrous cure. It’s insulting for everyone on the spectrum that we’re viewed as inferior due to a difference in brain wiring (something we can’t control, something you can’t cure because it’s how we’re meant to be). We aren’t broken so we shouldn’t be fixed.
In my opinion, it’s child abuse to experiment on autistic children by shoving pills down their throat. When I see parents giving their children chlorine-based acids to ‘cure’ their condition, it makes me so sad. When the children start to deteriorate from these dangerous solutions, it annoys me when parents wonder what’s wrong when their children start defecating bowel lining.
Children aren’t guinea pigs and shouldn’t be exposed to these ‘cures’.
I understand that parents struggle to watch their children regress. I get that adults may feel down after they’re refused a job due to poor interview skills. Autism provides those on the spectrum (children and adults alike) with a variety of difficulties each day, but they’re doing their best to overcome them. There are various interventions already available to help autistics cope with day-to-day challenges…a cure definitely isn’t one.
If individuals stopped spreading false information on autism, I think parents wouldn’t feel influenced to take all autism “facts” at face value.
If people took the time to actually learn about autism, there wouldn’t be so much false information. Maybe individuals like Wakefield and Donald Trump wouldn’t be so influential on the general public (especially the parents who try these cures).
In a nutshell, we need people to educate themselves.
Maybe then the public wouldn’t be so easily influenced to experiment with these ‘cures’.
Imagine if you will a quiet world, well ordered as long as everything has its place..
Imagine a warmth, cozy and comfortingly familiar. Your own warmth, just your own.
Now imagine headlights, bright and intrusive as in a winters night, burning and intense. They glare through the warmth and safety you have and push your eyes deep into their sockets until it’s unbearably painful.
Those headlights are someone’s eyes making intense eye contact with yours.
“Look at me!” The mouth beneath the eyes commands. ‘I don’t want to, it hurts…’ You think.
“This is all part of the problem you see?” The voice says to your parents who nod sadly, “Lack of eye contact, THIS we must stamp out. It’s a sign of non compliance, a sign of disregard. The child’s lost you see…?”
‘What?’ You think baffled, I’m right here!’.
Your parents sign a form giving permission for intense applied behavior analysis to begin.
Forty hours a week.
Forty hours of look at me/quiet hands? No more fluttering your hands in a language only you know, no more flapping your hands watching golden drops of happiness fly from your fingertips as you hum…no more angry bolts of lightening flying from your nails as you shake your hands so hard your wrists pound.
No more you.
I’ve realized something today.
Eye contact, who’s it for? It’s for the recipient. It’s for their own validation to reassure THEM that you know THEY exist. That you are aware THEY are speaking that you comply. That you acknowledge THEM.
It’s not about the child, it’s no benefit to the child to do something that in many cases is painful.
Intrusive.
It’s for them.
They don’t understand the avoidance of eye contact, the rapidly moving hands, the hum and the bounce of the feet.
The rhythmic rock you employ to comfort, a rock that’s universal if they would only look back to a parent rocking a babe, safety.
Predictability.
“Lines are forbidden”, intones the voice. “They are a sign of the child wanting to control the environment they are in! When he starts to make one mess it up immediately,” your parents nod. “Take back the control.” The voice says smugly.
‘But I need those!’ You think. ‘They help me make sense of, well everything. They make me safe, when everything else is changing I KNOW they are there!’.
The practice of eye contact is not for the child, society has the misconception that if your eyes are not raised when you or another is communicating then you have something to hide.
What if that something is your soul?
What if it’s all you have left in a world that’s to bright, loud and fast? It then makes sense that so many Autistic’s find peace in natural surroundings.
Bird song, rushing water and the swish of wind in the trees is surely preferable to beeping horns, bright reflections on glass and the mindless babble of a hundred conversations at once.
Once words leave a persons mouth where do they go? Do they keep going? As I’m sure many autists hear the echoes of words said long past.
Imagine.
As I know you can’t truly ever know what it’s like to be autistic, to be so comfortable in your own company that a day alone is heaven. Imagine not getting that time, that quiet.
Do not seek to validate yourself through your child, if they do not wish to make eye contact do not force it.
If you do you seek nothing but self service, for the validation that you exist is there in front of you.
Your child.
Validate them. Embrace and champion them. They are not there for your definition, they are there because you made them so.
