Dilo Dome

DILO DOME faces a new challenge

Introduction
The Dilo Dome is the latest outcome of over 20 years of research by medical scientist Dr Horace Dobbs into the benefits of interacting with wild dolphins in the open sea. It is part of the long term, on going research programme, Operation Sunflower. To make the observed therapeutic benefits of swimming with dolphins widely accessible Dr Dobbs set out to recreate them artificially. He succeeded in several innovative ways. The latest, the Dilo Dome Project targeted specifically at children with special needs, was started early in 2004. It utilises the adventures of a make believe dolphin named Dilo, the eponymous hero of 5 books by Horace Dobbs (Watch Publishing), to take children on a playful, imaginary journey into the undersea world of dolphins.

Thanks to the sterling efforts of Graham Bloy, who spent hours scouring the internet, a small inflatable plastic dome was located that proved to be an excellent prototype.

Prototype Dilo Domes

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A headmaster pops his head out of the first prototype Dilo Dome under trial in his school in Milton Keynes watched by Horace Dobbs, Jackie Connell and lots of highly amused pupils.

The Dilo Domes that have been undergoing trials are based on commercially produced inflatable igloos made of translucent, very pale blue plastic. The structure takes shape and remains semi rigid when hollow ribs are inflated with a small foot pump. They weigh 5kg, have a base diameter of 1.8 m and can easily be placed over a child with limited mobility in a bed or on the floor.

Trials in a school for special needs children, a hospital and a children’s hospice have provided unequivocal evidence that the principle of creating a dome shaped enclosure in which children with special needs can experience the uplifting effects of encounters with dolphins is sound.

Trials in a wide variety of other situations have yet to reveal a single “normal” child who does not enjoy the experience of going into a Dilo Dome. The vast majority absolutely relish it. Involved parents and grandparents, anxious to purchase a dome, are told that Dilo Domes are not yet for sale. They are prototypes under trial. This widespread interest clearly indicates that in addition to therapeutic applications for special needs children there is a large potential market for Dilo Domes for purely recreational purposes.

However, multiple use, deflating, packing into a small case, transporting and re-inflating the Dilo Domes at different locations has revealed a shortcoming. Slow punctures have developed which require the deflated panel(s) to be periodically re-inflated. Also the inflated plastic domes are vulnerable to deliberate or accidental damage.

So the time has now come to look for a new prototype without these disadvantages. A completely new structural concept needs to be designed and fabricated for the next generation of prototype Dilo Domes. One possibility is that a commercially available, dome shaped camping tent could be adapted.

The small circular opening on the top, through which children can poke their heads, has proved to be an attractive feature of the existing prototype Dilo Dome for active children. If possible this feature should be carried over into the next generation of prototypes. The new Dilo Dome does not have to be waterproof. But the covering must be of a translucent, flexible material onto which images of dolphins and underwater scenes can be printed, or stuck. Ideally the covering should be of a natural material such as silk. The framework supporting the dome must comply with the very high safety standards necessary for an apparatus used by children with special needs who can be destructive at times.

So that is the challenge the Dilo Dome Project now faces – a new prototype Dilo Dome is needed that can tested and eventually put into commercial production. Thus providing a way of bringing dolphin joy into the lives of children around the world, whatever their circumstances, including those with special needs.

If you can help in any way please contact:

Jackie Connell,
Dilo Dome Project Manager,
16 Rowsham Dell,
Giffard Park,
Milton Keynes MK14 5JS,
England.
Tel: 01908 617318
Email: Jackie.Connell@ntlworld.com

She looks forward to receiving your suggestions and ideas.

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WHAT IT IS

HOW IT WORKS

WHO WILL BENEFIT

WHAT IT IS

The Dilo Dome is a lightweight, igloo shaped structure of translucent, turquoise plastic with inflatable ribs, approximately 2 metres in diameter.

Dilo Dome proto.jpg

Mobile children can enter via a short tunnel, or a loose flap that also acts as an escape hatch. The dome, which has an open base, can easily be lifted on and off children confined to bed, or placed over children with limited mobility on the ground.

Panels in the dome are decorated with colourful images of Dilo the dolphin, and/or pictures on lightly adhesive backings that can be changed at will. These are illuminated from outside by natural or artificial light – like stained glass windows in a church. This gives children inside the Dome the sensation that they are with Dilo.

The Dilo Dome can be filled with sea and dolphin sounds from external speakers, or from internal battery powered tape/CD players.

The Dome then becomes a magical, secluded space in which those who are able can read Dilo stories and/or colour dolphin pictures.

Alternatively, the Dome can be used as a place in which children can listen to pre-recorded Dilo stories.

HOW IT WORKS

Children love to have a space of their very own - a den. Once inside they are separated from the ordered, organised, controlled world of adults. It is secure. It is safe. Yet for most children it is a place of total freedom where their minds can wander. Using their imaginations and stimulated by pictures and/or sounds they can enter the magical, undersea kingdom of Dilo the dolphin.

For children with neurological disorders such as Asperger's Syndrome, who become distressed when faced with new surroundings, the Dilo Dome is a safe haven in which they feel secure once they have become familiar with the interior.

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Contact with dolphins, both real and imaginary, affects the human mind in many mysterious and wide-ranging ways. A lifting of the human spirit is almost universal, some experience unconditional love, often accompanied by the release of suppressed emotions. In others the effects are subconscious.

The Dilo Dome recreates elements of these effects in a process similar to that in which the beneficial components of willow bark have been captured and reproduced in the form of Aspirin and its derivatives.

Using this analogy the Dilo Dome is following in the footsteps of many illustrious predecessors, i.e., substitutes for natural therapeutic substances, or healing experiences that have been known about from earlier times, that have since been investigated, improved and then made universally available.

WHO WILL BENEFIT?

Going into a Dome in a doctor’s surgery, a clinic, or a hospital, relieves the stress and fear that most children, and their parents, experience to a greater or lesser degree when faced with the prospect of medical treatments.

Children in hospitals and hospices benefit directly from the healing power of dolphins during and after sessions inside a Dilo Dome especially when these are complimented with other treatments.

Sessions inside the Dome can be used to dispel the feelings of loneliness and insecurity felt by children in isolation wards when their parents and friends have to leave after a visit.

Children with special needs attending day centres can also be distracted from the distress caused by the departure of their parents by a spell inside a Dilo Dome.

Although useful as a therapeutic space, children following orthodox educational programmes benefit when the Dilo Dome is used as a creative and learning space, inside which they can draw, write and assimilate knowledge.

The Dome is a space into which all children will want to go. Time in the Dome can therefore be used as reward for achievement and/or good behaviour. The Dilo Dome Experience can be enjoyed alone or shared with others.

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	THE DILO DOME is a continuation of Operation Sunflower - a long-term research project into the healing power of dolphins commenced by International Dolphin Watch in 1986.

International Dolphin Watch 10 Melton Road, North Ferriby, E.Yorks HU14 3ET. England.
Tel: +44 (0)1482 632650 Fax: +44 (0)1482 634914 E-mail: idw@talk21.com