Why dive blind ????

[AJ]

I got humble as he continued his talk about a sense of weightlessness, freedom, a feeling of achievement, over coming the boundaries placed on him by society, feeling of water rushing over his skin, sounds underwater. etc.

Sometimes I like to close my eyes while diving and just drift for a (litle) while. I gives me tremendous peace of mind, that feeling of floating freely in the water. Although I have 20/20 vision, I can imagine a tiny little bit how it must feel for a blind person.

 

[OC Fish Head]

So if the buddy system is for you to help some one out in case of an emergency who is there to help you, in the case of your buddy being blind? Would a 3 or 4 man team be suggested for this?

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[AJ]

Yes, disabled divers always dive with at least two trained divers, at least according to the IAHD standards. You need to be able to help each other and the disabled person. Furthermore there are limits to the type of diving.

 

[DiveHeart]

Tony, Can't wait for you to join us. We have 34 divers going to Cozumel in December with Dive Paradise where I've trained the instructors and divemasters. we'd love you to join us if you would like. i'll be conducting Diveheart Adaptive training for instructors and buddies in the afternoons, after our boat dives. Mike from Scuba Travel Ventures 1-800-298-9009 mike@scubatravelventures.com coordinates all our Cozumel trips ( 3 in 2016 ) and we conduct Diveheart Adaptive training on all of them. We have 7 divers with disabilities on this trip. We also do several trips to Key Largo through out the year as well as training in Chicago and around the world when the season permits. hope you can join us soon.

---------- Post added October 11th, 2015 at 10:46 AM ----------

Honestly, i didn't think there would be anything for a blind person in diving before I did the adaptive training. i've been guiding and teaching blind skiers since the 1980's and thought without visual references, it would be a waste of time….boy was I wrong. Blind and visually impaired divers love it.

---------- Post added October 11th, 2015 at 11:01 AM ----------

AJ, It sounds like your adaptive certified with IAHD. I'd love to get your thoughts on the Diveheart Adaptive program. After years of training instructors under another adaptive agency, we decided to take many of the innovations and new adaptive dive team protocols that we developed at Diveheart and launch our own program. We hired the team that did the last 15 years of PADI and DAN training to help and launched our program at last year's DEMA. we'll be there again this year in booth 1449. if you're there please stop by. if not, here is a link to the Diveheart Adaptive training program. Get Started | Diveheart We'd love your thoughts. And at Diveheart if an Adaptive diver needs help with one of the four key scuba skills as identified in our program they need a three person buddy team to accompany them. And at least two have to be Adaptive certified and one must be an Advanced Adaptive dive buddy, which is a new certification level that we've introduced in the Diveheart program.

---------- Post added October 11th, 2015 at 11:12 AM ----------

I've been teaching and guiding blind skiers since the 1980's and have taken everything i've learned on the ski hill and applied it to the Diveheart Adaptive instructor and buddy training program. would love your thoughts… Get Started | Diveheart

 

[Altamira]

Like AJ, if blind, I would continue to dive just for the sense of peace, serenity, and weightlessness while under water. Of course, hearing the underwater sounds of whales and dolphins as well as my own bubbles would just be icing on the cake. Adaptive divers make me so proud of their accomplishments, and so ashamed of the whining and complaining I hear from so many "healthy" people who really don't have any real reason to complain. Keep up the good work.

 

[DiveHeart]

One of the first classes i taught in 1997 at Good Samaritan Hospital was Scuba Therapy. we never used fins. i just got people used to breathing underwater, sometimes with their eyes closed, in the warm therapy pool. it was very ZEN.

 

[AJ]

AJ, It sounds like your adaptive certified with IAHD. I'd love to get your thoughts on the Diveheart Adaptive program.

Unfortunately I am not adaptive with IAHD, but I do know the owner very well as I am a member of his diving club. He will be representing IAHD at DEMA, maybe you want to look him up? If you do and say hi from me (Albert Jan).

The reason I responded in this thread like I did is because some mildly disabled people are sometimes diving with us and I do enjoy diving with them, seeing them having such fun during diving. I think it's great there are people around who don't deny opportunities to these people, but encourage them to seek new ways to overcome their disabilities and help them doing that. Great respect for all who are involved in this.

 

[DiveHeart]

AJ, Have an awesome New Year and lets keep in touch in 2016.
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