Has anyone trained a disabled diver?

[Teddybeardiver]

Has anyone trained a disabled diver?

I have taught a hearing impaired diver, I know BSL, it was great we could discuss underwater and he was very good at skills.

[anvill72]

No, but I've been trained by an instructor with a disability (restricted ability in one hand and restricted movement in one foot to the extent he only wears one fin.)

[Chris Grosart]

Rich Walker taught a disabled diver Fundies in Netherlands (?? - check that) this year - the guy wanted to improve his diving despite being physically limited.
When he shows up on here I'm sure he can help if you have any questions.
Chris

[timmyg]

Yes; I've done training with amputees as part of the battle back scheme. Ok, sometimes there's a few kit modifications but actually let them see what they can/can't do before trying to assist them


TG

Sent from my iPhone using Timmytalk (hopefully)

[Chris Thomas]

A couple of IDC Staff Instructors that worked on my IDC work with disabled divers.They have International Association for Handicapped Divers logo on their business cards.

[shaun]

Ive trained a bloke with one leg- wasn't a problem but had to use some lateral thinking to achieve some of the skills. It could all be worked around though.

[Frosty the Snowman]

I did the first BSAC disability awareness course and got very into disabled diving! The biggest challenge was working with a blind diver.

[johnny boy]

I've not actually trained someone disabled, but i've conducted 48 dives with someone who has MS (balance and leg strength issues). In the water they were fine. The stress loading came from kitting up and getting into the water. Once you've accepted the added complications we implemented our own system and managed it that way. In practice i would 'dress' the diver, weight belt, fins, the lot and ensure there was somewhere for them to sit safely and comfortably whilst i kitted up.

[Seastar]

I'm an instructor with Scuba trust, and have been involved in teaching people with many different disabilities, from severely autistic, to quadriplegic and will soon be finishing off an OW course for a guy who is both deaf and has M.S.
I've re-taught a bsac diver who had 20 years behind him, then had a stroke, we never know what will happen

The only rule is everyone is different, with or without a disability. But the sense of privilege that you feel when someone who is paralysed trusts you enough to guide them through the water, and then work through skills with them. Can you imagine letting someone take your reg out of your mouth and putting it back in if you couldn't move to tell them you were in trouble?

[Letz]

I'm really glad this topic has come up as I was going to ask about training someone with Cerebal Palsy.
A friend of mine would love to dive but has little or no power in her legs & would ideally need fins that went out to the side - I'm not sure if any have been designed but I can't imagine it would be that difficult.

I was going to ask on here & we were going to pop along to Vobbi to see if they knew anyone who could help. I'm not sure at what stage someone with her limitations would be able to dive a dry suit so we figured she may need to do the confined dives in a pool and the qualifying dives about May-ish

Any info or ideas would be gratefully received, thanks:)

[Paul Oliver]

Good thread :)

I've trained a few, hearing impaired first and it is quite easy and gets you off to a good start and thinking outside the loop :)

[Janos]

I've taught someone Sports Diver who only has one arm and one leg. It was a new one for me, so sought a bit of advice from HQ, Laura (thanks), and others. Generally the advice I got is to talk through things with the student. They might have had 20+ years of adapting their life to cope with their disability, and dive skills are no different in that respect.

I really enjoyed it though.

Janos

[Seastar]

I'm really glad this topic has come up as I was going to ask about training someone with Cerebal Palsy.
A friend of mine would love to dive but has little or no power in her legs & would ideally need fins that went out to the side - I'm not sure if any have been designed but I can't imagine it would be that difficult.

I was going to ask on here & we were going to pop along to Vobbi to see if they knew anyone who could help. I'm not sure at what stage someone with her limitations would be able to dive a dry suit so we figured she may need to do the confined dives in a pool and the qualifying dives about May-ish

Any info or ideas would be gratefully received, thanks:)

If a student has little power in their legs, they will find using fins very difficult, In your situation I'd discuss with her the idea of using webbed gloves instead as the means for propulsion.
If they are not wearing fins, they may find small ankle weight (.25kg or .5kg) useful to help with their buoyancy and trim - not because I think they should be 'flat' but it makes it easier to propel your self through the water using gloves.

If you want any advice, either ask here or drop me a line, or if you can get to the pool we use near Oxford, sounds like she would benefit from a try-dive to see what equipment would benefit her and best places for weights.

[Letz]

If a student has little power in their legs, they will find using fins very difficult, In your situation I'd discuss with her the idea of using webbed gloves instead as the means for propulsion.
If they are not wearing fins, they may find small ankle weight (.25kg or .5kg) useful to help with their buoyancy and trim - not because I think they should be 'flat' but it makes it easier to propel your self through the water using gloves.

If you want any advice, either ask here or drop me a line, or if you can get to the pool we use near Oxford, sounds like she would benefit from a try-dive to see what equipment would benefit her and best places for weights.

Thanks Laura, that's great.
We did talk about her power being in her upper body/arms. I'll ask her about Oxford, it may be a bit far for a course but possibly worth the trip for a try dive. We'll be in touch :D

[Letz]

If a student has little power in their legs, they will find using fins very difficult, In your situation I'd discuss with her the idea of using webbed gloves instead as the means for propulsion.
If they are not wearing fins, they may find small ankle weight (.25kg or .5kg) useful to help with their buoyancy and trim - not because I think they should be 'flat' but it makes it easier to propel your self through the water using gloves.

If you want any advice, either ask here or drop me a line, or if you can get to the pool we use near Oxford, sounds like she would benefit from a try-dive to see what equipment would benefit her and best places for weights.

Thanks Laura, that's great.
We did talk about her power being in her upper body/arms. I'll ask her about Oxford, it may be a bit far for a course but possibly worth the trip for a try dive.

A few friends with MS have mentioned an interest in diving and it's nice to read that they may be able to dive too

We'll be in touch soon :D

[Sami]

I have trained para and tetraplegic divers.

[teas]

I have worked at a dive centre where one of the customers was an amputee. She had the greatest sense of humour at everything and was brilliant in the water! Although we were left scratching our heads a few times when we counted 13 fins in the crate when going out for open water dives...

[6fathoms]

I had a friend who i worked with in spain, a very qualified instructor (he was argentinian) uwvideo (http://danielzuber.tripod.com/producer.htm)who was very involved with teaching handicapped divers. He was also a fantastic cameraman.