AN autism rehabilitation center has been set up at Shenzhen Safari Park in Nanshan District.
The base will provide animal therapy and other forms of rehabilitation. Animal therapy involves dolphins while other therapy will combine the senses, group communication, music and social adaptation training, a Shenzhen Economic Daily report said.
A teaching and research base for the University of Hong Kong and Central China Normal University, the center will collaborate with domestic experts and scholars to optimize the function of the base.
The ocean world at the safari park is home to six dolphins which have helped more than 100 autistic children since the summer of 2009.
The incidence rate of autistic children in Shenzhen is 0.132 percent, more than five times that of the national average of 0.025 percent, official statistics show.
According to research agencies in the United States, dolphins and other cetaceans, including whales and porpoises, vocalize high-frequency ultrasounds from 2,000 to 100,000 hertz, which can activate the human central nervous system and are therapeutic in helping autistic children to speak.
The symptoms associated with autism, impaired social interaction and communication as well as repetitive behavior, may be lessened following interaction with dolphins. A number of countries have made significant achievements in dolphin therapy for autism. (Jane Lai)
