Dolphins help brain-damaged boy speak
1. A BOY aged eight who suffered brain damage at birth has spoken his first words after making friends with a dolphin. Well-wishers raised more than 10,000 to send Nikki Brice to Miami for treatment at a therapy center where handicapped youngsters
are encouraged to swim with dolphins.
2. After eight years of silence, Nikki's mother, Tabitha was astonished to hear him say "in" as she helped him out of the pool where he had been swimming with four dolphins, including their most famous,Flipper. Since that first breakthrough, eight days ago, he has learnt to say "please" and "duck".
3. Family, friends and celebrities including the Spice Girls, the musicianBen Elton and film-actress Deborah Kerr helped to raise the money for him to spend nearly 3 weeks at the Human Dolphin Therapy Center at Miami's Sea-quarium. The center uses 40-minute sessions with trained dolphins alongside intensiveconventional therapies. The conventional therapies included the usual one-to-one speech therapy sessions.
4. Although Nikki had been nervous, his mother said that he soon enjoyed playing with the dolphins. Mrs. Brice, 30, said: "On the third day he was swimming in the dolphin enclosure. We hadn't been there for long when Nikki was told to get out of the water, at the end of the session, and he stood very quietly at the edge of the tank.
5. "Nikki must have thought he wasn't going to be allowed to go swimming with the dolphins again because he suddenly pointed at the water and said 'in'. He was telling us he wanted to get back in to the water. We just stood there in shock because it was so unexpected. Once we got over it we quickly told him he could go in again and he soon cheered up. For years, I have hoped to hear Nikki speak."
6. Nikki, who attends a special school near his home in Bristol, England, almost died at birth. He was blue and his heart had stopped beating, and although doctors were able to revive him, he had suffered minor brain damage.
7. Neurological experts say there is no physical reason why Nikki cannot talk because his hearing is normal and his vocal cords are working perfectly. He was able to communicate by grunting for "yes" and "no" and using facial expressions but, despite intensive therapy, had never uttered a word.
8. At one point Nikki started to learn sign language, but Mrs. Brice stopped his lessons for fear he would lose the will to talk. She said yesterday: "We have already begun to see a change. His behavior has got better and he no longer seems so frustrated.
9. "Watching other children improve in leaps and bounds, day by day, is an inspiration to him. It is like seeing a miracle happening before your eyes.
10. "There is just something magical that happens between children and dolphins, something that I don't think we will ever fully understand."
11. The person in charge of Nikki's treatment is David Nathanson, who pioneered dolphin therapy 20 years ago. Dr. Nathanson said: "I am very pleased with Nikki. He is doing very well and we are delighted that he has spoken for the first time. I am looking to build on this to encourage him to extend his vocabulary.
12. "He is a lovely child and very enthusiastic. Obviously it is early days and a great deal needs to be done yet, but Nikki has finally broken out of his world of silence."
13. The center claims to have helped more than 1,000 children to overcome problems, from brain damage tolearning difficulties. It opened four years ago and treats 8 children a week with intensive sessions that last on average two weeks. Swimming
sessions run in conjunction with conventional, speech and physical therapy. The center claims it has a 97 per cent improvement rate for children who have a mental problem that has not responded to normal treatment.
對應翻譯：
海豚幫助腦損傷的男孩說話
1.一個患先天性腦損傷的八歲男孩，跟一隻海豚交上朋友之後，說出了有生以來的第一個字。
熱心人籌集了一萬多英鎊，將尼基·布萊斯送到了邁阿密州的一家治療中心。在那裡，醫生
鼓勵患有殘疾的少年與海豚一起遊泳。
2．當尼基的媽媽塔比莎幫助尼基從遊泳池裡爬上來的時候，聽見他說了聲「裡面」，頓時驚
呆了。整整八年，尼基從未說過一句話。在上岸之前，尼基一直在和四隻海豚遊泳，其中最
有名的一隻名叫「鰭鰭」。自從第一次突破之後，八天前，尼基又學會了說「請」和「鴨子」。
3.家裡的人、朋友以及社會名流諸如辣妹合唱隊、音樂家本·艾爾頓以及電影演員德博拉·克
等都幫忙籌款，用以支付尼基去位於邁阿密水族館的豚療康復中心接受近三周治療所需的費
用。這家中心在實施傳統的強化治療的同時，還讓患者與訓練有素的海豚一起遊泳，進行
40 分鐘一個療程的「人豚遊泳療法」。傳統療法包括常規的一對一的會話療程。
4.他的媽媽說雖然尼基開始時有些緊張，但他很快就喜歡上了和海豚一起玩耍。30 歲的布
萊斯夫人說：「第三天，他正在海豚區裡遊泳。我們還沒呆上一會兒，那天的『豚療法』就
結束了。被醫生從水裡叫起來的尼基，靜靜地站在泳池邊上。」
5.「尼基肯定認為是不再讓他和海豚一起遊泳了，因為他突然指著池水說『裡面』。他在告
訴我們他想再到水裡去。我們站在那兒都驚呆了，因為這真是太出人意料了。我們一緩過神
來就告訴尼基，他可以再到水裡去。他頓時高興起來。這麼多年，我一直都盼望著尼基能說
話。」
6.尼基出生在英格蘭布利斯託耳市，如今在離家很近的一所(殘疾兒童)專門學校就讀。他在
出生時就差點夭折了。當時，他全身青紫，心跳也已停止了。雖然醫生救活了他，但他的腦
部受到了輕微的損傷。
7.神經病學專家說並非身體上的障礙導致尼基不能說話，因為他的聽力正常，聲帶功能也正
常。他能依靠含糊不清的「是」或「不是」以及面部表情來與人交流，然而雖然接受過強化
治療，尼基卻從未說出過一個字。
8.曾經有一段時間，尼基開始學起了手語，但是布萊斯夫人因擔心他會喪失說話的欲望，就
中斷了他的課程。她昨天說：「我們已經看到了一種轉機。他的表現越來越好了，人好像也
不怎麼沮喪了。」
9.「對於他來說，看著別的孩子每天都取得突飛猛進的進展本身就是一種鼓舞。這就像你親
眼目睹奇蹟發生一樣。
10.「在孩子和海豚嬉戲之間產生出了一種不可思議的東西，一種或許我們永遠也不會完全
弄懂的東西。」
11.負責治療尼基的是戴維·納忒森醫生。他在 20 年前就首創了豚遊療法。納忒森醫生說：
「我對尼基很滿意。他的表現很出色，看到他已經開口說話了，我們很高興。我正期望著在
此基礎上鼓勵他擴大詞彙量呢！」
12.「他是個可愛的孩子，而且非常熱情。顯然這還只是個開頭，還有許多事情需要做，但
尼基畢竟已經走出了他的無聲世界。」
13.這家康復中心宣稱他們已經幫助一千多名孩子解決了包括從腦損傷到學習障礙等一
系列的問題。這家中心開業已四年了。他們每周對八個孩子實施強化治療，平均每兩周為一
療程。在傳統的言語和物理療法的基礎上同時實施豚遊療法。這家中心還稱對於接受常規療
收效甚微的心智異常的兒童，豚療法的治癒率高達 97%。