At Bethel we try to be on the edge of new therapies and in general anything that can assist our children to reach independence.

Hippotherapy uses a horse as a mean for therapy. Working with horses has yielded incredible results specially with children who are blind and autistic, or blind with low tone muscles. The basic concept is that one session of hippotherapy packs so much stimuli, even compare with traditional physical therapy that autistic kids have said their first words on the horse. The heat, smell, rhythm, size and movements of the horse makes it a great assistant to create amazing progress for these children.

Aquatherapy uses water as a mean of therapy. In water, our needs are enlarged, which also means that they are easier to see. It is also a safe environment under the right supervision. It also slows down our movements which helps to work on specific tasks like going up and down the stairs. For a non sighted person, it can be a frightening experience, but with time, overcoming this challenge brings them much confidence. We see great bonding experience between the caregivers and the child in the water become of the dependency of the child to the caregiver in this environment. Since most orphan suffer for abandonment issues, aquatherpay becomes a great help.

Aromatherapy uses the sense of smell. For example we have planted flowers with different smell in front of each house. So when a child is learning to locate his house and smell lavender for example, he knows he is in front of his house.