The start of a sea change for Keir

SEEING little Keir Percy’s face light up as he holds on to the fin of a dolphin would bring joy to any parent’s heart. But for Keir’s parents, Leigh and Gavin, it means much more.

Keir has cerebral palsy, which has weakened the six-year-old’s right side and left him with behavioural problems.

“The motivation from being with the dolphin and DeeDee his teacher, allowed him to strengthen his arm and actually be able to grip the dolphin’s dorsal fin for the ride.To see him holding on was amazing,” says Leigh from Harrogate.

“His right side is weaker as a result of the cerebral palsy and it was something we had asked the therapists to work on and by the end of the 10-day course he could hold on just with his right hand.”

Gavin and Leigh decided to give dolphin assisted therapy a try after Keir’s behaviour deteriorated after starting mainstream school.

They believe that Keir suffered cerebral palsy when his twin, Flynn died when Leigh was 36 weeks pregnant.

“I had a routine scan at 36 weeks which showed that Flynn had passed away,” explains Leigh. In identical twins, the blood can shift between babies and they fear when Flynn died he took much-needed blood and, therefore, oxygen from Keir.

When the scan revealed Flynn had died, both babies were delivered by caesarean section. Keir weighed just 5lb 7oz.

Further tests have revealed that part of Keir’s brain has died, but Leigh and Gavin are determined that their son can be helped.

They have tried alternative therapies to try to encourage Keir’s development, including Brain Wave, but they now feel that he needs more to take him on to the next stage.

“Having researched extensively, we found Rapid Development Therapy, based in Grand Cayman.”

It meant raising thousands of pounds for the trip to the Cayman Islands which they also funded themselves, but Leigh believes it was worth every penny.

“At first I suppose we were a little sceptical about the effect it would have despite meeting a family who were raving about it, but quite quickly we were seeing such a difference in Keir. It has changed the whole way we approach Keir and deal with his behavioural issues. From the moment we got there Dee Dee devised an individual programme for Keir after asking us what our main priorities were.

“We told her about his weak right side, but also about his behavioural issues and sibling rivalries with his big brother Drew.”

For the next ten days both Drew and Keir spent a lot of time in the water with the dolphins.

“From the outset we could tell that Keir was completely in awe of the dolphins and took it very seriously. Dee Dee got him to invite Drew into the water with him as a way of giving him control in a positive way.

“The dolphins were used as a motivator, without Keir realising he was learning things.”

After the ten-day intensive programme Leigh believes it has made a difference to Keir.

“It is still really early days as we haven’t; been back very long but he does seem much calmer. What we have to do now is make sure that we follow to road map the programme has given us. Keir now has rules, such as being kind to his brother, which he is not allowed to break, but also we need to praise him more for his good behaviour. It also taught us that he needs to be given more responsibility, so we have made him cat manager at home which he is taking really seriously.

“We knew it was never going to be a miracle cure but we wanted it to be something positive and a way of moving Keir forward. It was incredible and really moving for us to see him progress with us, developing behaviour management strategies and mapping the path moving forward.”

Dolphin Human Therapy’s Founder, Dr. David Nathanson, began working with special needs populations many years ago. Beginning in the early ‘80s he made some interesting and startling discoveries on how the dolphins can be used to motivate children and increase their sensory attention.

From this research, he began to study the efficacy of using these powerful re-enforcers to motivate and help the children learn faster. After researching the topic and conducting studies Dr Nathanson began working with special needs populations in the Florida Keys.

In 2006, DHT closed its doors to continue research on the efficacy of using dolphins as a tool for this type of program.

Early in 2010 Dr. Dave began coordinating efforts with Dolphin Cove, Grand Cayman to bring back the original and very successful, Dolphin Human Therapy.

Rapid Development Therapy is the rebirth of this successful programme.

www.rdtci.com

DOLPHIN THERAPY

Rapid Development Therapy Cayman Islands (RDTCI) is a dolphin-assisted therapy program for children and adults with autism, Asperger’s, and other special needs and development issues. RDTCI helps participants rapidly improve in all areas of development using traditional therapy (physical, occupational, speech, etc) combined with a unique and exciting motivator – dolphins. Located on Grand Cayman Island, the programme is now offering full scholarships for lower income families. Email Brian Wright at [email protected] for more information.