“….It was completely geared towards my child. I even forgot to bring my sons PECS and visuals and the staff had a visual schedule and pictures to help with his therapy and help with his language. It was amazing.”

“I was afraid first that there was going to be sessions in a classroom. I thought maybe my son would be the only one not talking or drawing himself etc. I was happy to find that it was well adapted to his ability and to his mood.”

“Exceeded my expectations. If anything, staff helped me see that my son was on an even higher level than I thought.”

“For me, this was an opportunity to stop and take a look at my family. I've been caught up in a lot of things since our child was diagnosed with a brain tumor and this week allowed us to have some special time together. One revelation for me was how we (everyone in our family) is hurting because of our child's illness. This time away from our routine provided us all with real break.”

"The experience makes him happy, builds confidence, fosters independence, positive emotional impact, and motivates use of language."

"Island Dolphin Care is a true blessing for parents with special needs children. IDC gives my son something to look forward to in the summer, since he is unable to play certain summer sports. My son is already planning his next trip there. He tells everyone how he loves to swim with the dolphins, they are his friends."

A child wrote: “You mean so much to me because since I’m weak I never thought I would be able to swim with dolphins. I really appreciate that you let my dream come true, now I’m not just Holli; I’m even more a dolphin lover”

“Therapeutic Intervention was available to the whole family. For my child, it gave him independence, confidence, happiness and allowed him to do things he may not get to do otherwise. My child had a lot of opportunities that keep things exciting. The interaction with the dolphins, the use of assisted technology and all the other crazy things he gets to do is therapeutic.  The overall experience for my child in itself was therapeutic. For my child's provider, there was therapeutic intervention, a sense of fulfillment; learning new things to do with my child, seeing that my child can do other things, make the provider's mind think of new things, learned how to help my child, and feelings of happiness for my child was in itself therapeutic. It was therapeutic intervention to me as a parent. A sense of calm, perspective, a sense of pride, a sense of believing again, a sense of holding on when you are about to give up, being able to see people believe in your child, being able to learn new things, seeing your child thrive, seeing your child do crazy, fun things, seeing you child happy, relaxation, knowing your family is accepted, watching the program grow brings hope, reminding me of the importance of my role to help my child be who he is, remembering again finally, that I am really doing a good job with your child. I would say that IDC provides therapeutic intervention across the board. Great Job."

“Well, you did it again!  You took a years worth of tears: painful medical testing, hours upon hours of doctor’s appointments, hospital stays, and therapy appointments…and with the wave of a magic moment made it all disappear…into wonderful memories filled with radiant smiles, dolphin dances, and dolphin song”. We will always remember the experience that we lived while at Island Dolphin Care.  Our son is very happy and social; during that marvelous week he was extraordinarily happy and communicative"

“We cannot begin to express our amazement at the changes we and others have seen in her in the past few days.  She glows when she tells people about the experience”.

"Our family is always pleased and delighted with the care and service we receive at IDC....it is a place where we find new miracles of our children and grasp the opportunity to take all we have learned home with us and continue until next year when we can once again swim with the dolphins!!”

“My daughter came away grown up from the experience. The weeks following she seemed to bloom in front of us. It seemed like the therapy gave her a new sense of who she is. It has been amazing. “

“Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for following your dream… You are truly wonderful people who will always have a very special place in our hearts.”

“This program offered hope for my family. These people opened their arms and welcomed us into a safe haven to just be carefree and happy. The dolphins honored us with their grace and their love. You can not ask for anything better than this. My children cried when we left and I felt at peace"