Dolphin therapy - making a splash.

Dingy (DING-ee) tried all her tricks to get Joseph La Nave's attention the first day he visited her tropical home. She exploded out of the lagoon, her smooth body shimmering in the sun, before crashing back into the water. But Joseph ignored the dolphin.

As Dingy vanished beneath the saltwater surf, Joseph's parents wondered if they had made a mistake. They'd brought their physically challenged son to the Dolphin Human Therapy and Research Program in Key Largo, Florida. They wanted Joseph to be around dolphins before he worked with one in a therapy class. How could Dingy or any of the other dolphins help Joseph if he didn't take notice?

Dingy, however, wouldn't give up. A few minutes later, she popped out of the water with a sea bean clenched between her teeth. With one motion, she flipped the bean directly into Joseph's lap.

Startled, Joseph looked up and locked eyes with Dingy. It was instant love.

Joseph's mom and dad asked Dingy's trainers, "Why did she give Joseph a soggy sea plant?"

"She wanted to make eye contact with Joseph," they said. To do so, Dingy had given Joseph her dolphin calf's favorite toy. "And that may have seemed like the only way to do it."

Why Dolphins?

Physically challenged kids who ignore things around them will work extra hard to earn a little time with any dolphin, says Dr. David Nathanson, program director. The program uses dolphins to help children explore abilities they've not yet tested. (To learn more about this, see "Dolphriends" on page 6.)

Because Joseph was born with cerebral palsy, a disorder that affects muscle control, he can't speak.

"We read his gestures, smiles, and facial expressions," his dad explains. Maybe dolphin therapy would help Joseph break through a barrier.

On the Waves of Success

When six-year-old Joseph returned for his therapy class, he was holding his sea bean souvenir. Squirt was now his dolphin teacher instead of Dingy, but Joseph was still excited.

Joseph's physical therapist, Louellen Klints, watched him closely. She was trying to decide how to set goals for Joseph.

By the next day, Louellen knew what to do. As Joseph floated on a dock, she asked him to point to a picture that matched the word she said. "Joseph, where is the star?" his teacher asked again and again. "Can you touch the star?" As Joseph reached out and touched it, everyone got excited.

"Way to go!" Louellen cheered. "How about a foot kiss from Squirt?"

With a grin, Joseph dipped his toes into the warm water. Squirt swam to him and nuzzled his foot.

"Match a few more pictures, and you can go in the water with her," his teacher said.

Joseph did more than that. He spoke his first--word-"in." He had asked to get in the water with Squirt!

Wearing wet suits, Joseph and Louellen slipped into the water and signaled for Squirt. The eight-foot-long dolphin glided next to them. It waited as the pair took hold of its dorsal fin.

"Joseph had a look of joy," his father recalls. "He loves rides--the rougher, the better. Joseph's smile said, 'I'm a little afraid, Dad, but I'm loving it.'"

Back on Dry Ground

Will Joseph's dolphin experience carry over into his life in New York? It's possible, says Sherry Stephens, mother of twelve-year-old Brooke, a dolphin therapy graduate.

"Brooke has a confidence she didn't have before," her mom explains. "The dolphins helped her believe she could do it. Brooke knows now that she can do other things, too."

Joseph's dad agrees. "The therapists here have asked Joseph to dig down inside himself and pull something out that hasn't been seen before."

"We didn't come here to see Joseph cured," his dad says. "We came for a breakthrough on which we could build. And Joseph would tell you--the dolphins definitely helped."