They have often said that you should give till it hurts, well yesterday about a dozen or so ScubaBoarders gave till it felt GOOD! There was a threat of bad weather which kept a number of the participants away, but I only got to break a few minutes for lunch yesterday. I was in the pool from about 10;30 am to 3;00 PM. To say the least, we had fun, we got to learn, we got to help others and we learned to adapt. Did I mention we had fun? There were a lot of photographers in the pool, and I'm hoping they'll share some of the activities.
As always, I learned a few insights yesterday that I would like to share...
"When in Rome..." As many of you know and especially if you've taken any classes from me, I abhor the use of hands while scuba diving. Yesterday I had three leg amputees in the water who could not kick. During the first session, the double amputee asked what was the signal I was giving when I held my hands together. It was then I realized, that I owed it to him to swim the way he had to by using my hands. He can't imitate what he doesn't see, so I did my best to adapt and actually learned some anti silting methods while swimming that way. If I thought trim & buoyancy were important before, they are imperative for an adaptive diver. I had lots of fun, though I admit that my shoulders and arms simply ache this morning. I'm going to have to work on those muscles.
"Kids love games..." When dealing with an autistic child, you don't always get to explain things the way you would want. Cause and effect may not be apparent to them, no matter how hard you try. In order to descend into the deep end, they had to be able to clear their ears. Instead of trying to teach them, I simply made a game out of it. "When I touch your nose, I want you to squeeze your nose and blow it!" They didn't have a clue that they were helping themselves, they simply just played the new game. I heard one tell his mom on leaving the pool, "Hey mom, touch my nose!" Too funny!
"Keep it simple, sonny..." We also ran into a couple of kids who could not take a breath off of a regulator under water. They either didn't understand or trust it. So, we simply kept it simple and fun by teaching them the Darth Vader game. They learned to make noises with the reg and thus learned to breath through it. Again, trying to explain anything was futile at this point. One father and mother were in tears as they saw their son actually swimming under water. They really didn't think it would be possible. But with a little patience and adaptation, he was chasing mermaids.
"Never underestimate the power of a distraction to accomplish your goals..." God bless our mermaids! We had a mermaid in the pool with us swimming with the divers and mugging for pics with them. Without the fishes in the reef, they gave our adaptive scuba divers something fun and pleasant to look at. For most of them, they forgot any lingering fears or feelings of frustrations and relaxed as we escorted them around the pool. What I had seen as nothing but a gimmick at the beginning became a part of our teaching system.
"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you..." For those who have never tried it, volunteers appear to be a selfless lot bent on only enriching others. While that might be true, especially the first two or three times, I have to let you in on a secret: we are addicted to the strongest drug known to man: service. Nothing helps your outlook like helping others. Nothing makes you feel this good about yourself and life in general. Nothing empowers you like giving of yourself to others who are less fortunate or merely appear to be less fortunate. Nothing. If you want to really improve yourself, start by helping others. The sad part is, if you haven't tried being a whole hearted volunteer, you simply won't believe me. You're going to let a few of us keep hoarding all the fun and other blessings that you are seeking from your work and hobbies. Don't miss out! Get some training and volunteer today!
I'm a Diveheart Volunteer: What's your superpower?
As always, I learned a few insights yesterday that I would like to share...
"When in Rome..." As many of you know and especially if you've taken any classes from me, I abhor the use of hands while scuba diving. Yesterday I had three leg amputees in the water who could not kick. During the first session, the double amputee asked what was the signal I was giving when I held my hands together. It was then I realized, that I owed it to him to swim the way he had to by using my hands. He can't imitate what he doesn't see, so I did my best to adapt and actually learned some anti silting methods while swimming that way. If I thought trim & buoyancy were important before, they are imperative for an adaptive diver. I had lots of fun, though I admit that my shoulders and arms simply ache this morning. I'm going to have to work on those muscles.
"Kids love games..." When dealing with an autistic child, you don't always get to explain things the way you would want. Cause and effect may not be apparent to them, no matter how hard you try. In order to descend into the deep end, they had to be able to clear their ears. Instead of trying to teach them, I simply made a game out of it. "When I touch your nose, I want you to squeeze your nose and blow it!" They didn't have a clue that they were helping themselves, they simply just played the new game. I heard one tell his mom on leaving the pool, "Hey mom, touch my nose!" Too funny!
"Keep it simple, sonny..." We also ran into a couple of kids who could not take a breath off of a regulator under water. They either didn't understand or trust it. So, we simply kept it simple and fun by teaching them the Darth Vader game. They learned to make noises with the reg and thus learned to breath through it. Again, trying to explain anything was futile at this point. One father and mother were in tears as they saw their son actually swimming under water. They really didn't think it would be possible. But with a little patience and adaptation, he was chasing mermaids.
"Never underestimate the power of a distraction to accomplish your goals..." God bless our mermaids! We had a mermaid in the pool with us swimming with the divers and mugging for pics with them. Without the fishes in the reef, they gave our adaptive scuba divers something fun and pleasant to look at. For most of them, they forgot any lingering fears or feelings of frustrations and relaxed as we escorted them around the pool. What I had seen as nothing but a gimmick at the beginning became a part of our teaching system.
"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you..." For those who have never tried it, volunteers appear to be a selfless lot bent on only enriching others. While that might be true, especially the first two or three times, I have to let you in on a secret: we are addicted to the strongest drug known to man: service. Nothing helps your outlook like helping others. Nothing makes you feel this good about yourself and life in general. Nothing empowers you like giving of yourself to others who are less fortunate or merely appear to be less fortunate. Nothing. If you want to really improve yourself, start by helping others. The sad part is, if you haven't tried being a whole hearted volunteer, you simply won't believe me. You're going to let a few of us keep hoarding all the fun and other blessings that you are seeking from your work and hobbies. Don't miss out! Get some training and volunteer today!
I'm a Diveheart Volunteer: What's your superpower?
