Blind Diver certification

[Codiak]

My brother recently completed his Open Water I believe with SSI.
Blind since birth, he's not let that stop him from trying various activities.

What I find surprising is that he was told he still required the Low Vis / Night diver class / cert to dive with his dive shop.

Entry strobes and glow sticks discussions would be...hmmm... pointless?

Frankly, every other consideration for a sighted person to dive at night, should have been accounted for in his Open Water.

A seemly obvious question, Why?

 

[Blue Sparkle]

That does sound a bit odd. And I'm only a beginner myself. The one thing that comes to mind is just so that he would know what the sighted divers on any given night dive are doing/dealing with/looking for?

I'll be interested to hear what folks have to say.

 

[themagni]

Why not?

Yeah, maybe he won't see much, but I've been on dives where vis was bad enough that you could have had a black mask -- on the front. The feeling of mobility and weightlessness is still there.

I would suggest that he tells the shop that "every dive is a night dive".

 

[DevonDiver]

It sounds like the shop concerned is being a little inflexible.

 

[Codiak]

The one thing that comes to mind is just so that he would know what the sighted divers on any given night dive are doing/dealing with/looking for?

Well any buddy pair should have a pre-dive discussion...
In his case he is dependant on his buddy more than most people can understand.
Communication and ridged planning isn't optional... and underwater communication is even more critical and difficult....

Without FFM's and radios it's all touchie-feelie stuff or time to refresh your ditty-bobber skills!

I just hope the answer is better than checking a box.

 

[Codiak]

I would suggest that he tells the shop that "every dive is a night dive".

Only thing I can figure is this is cookie cutter CYA based on inflexible "standards", hope I'm wrong on that count....

 

[Tom Smedley]

I am an SSI Instrucor Certifier and am not totally able to answer your question but may shed some light.

We worked with a blind diver in the pool. He was uncomfortable in mid water but totally at home when he had the bottom or a guide rope as reference.

"Do just once what others say you cannot do aand you will never pay attention to their limitations again." James R. Cook

Somehow it got on the wire and I had Good Morning America calling me for details of his "certification" and his plans to dive the Keys and to be a member of our search and recovery team. After all, some of the diving that we do in the rivers and ponds is in absolute zero vis.

I would gladly escort him on an open water dive but to "certify" him as an independent diver I would be hesitant. I don't know the circumstances of your LDS or your local diving but the surface strobes and glow sticks are a small part of limited vis diving. Ross did state though, "Teaching me to defog my mask is a waste of time."

Stevie Wonder was once challenged to a game of golf. He said "Fine, I'll meet you on the course at midnight." As well, the blind diver would certainly have advantage of me in the dark.

Let and encourage your brother to take the limited vis course and encourage him to get all the experience he can, under sighted supervision of course. I think that it is absoutely awesome that he is interested in our underwater world.

 

[Codiak]

It sounds like the shop concerned is being a little inflexible.

If the shop that trained/certified him OW has this issue... imagine what will happen everywhere else

 

[Codiak]

Let and encourage your brother to take the limited vis course and encourage him to get all the experience he can, under sighted supervision of course. I think that it is absoutely awesome that he is interested in our underwater world.

There are restrictions on his certification where I believe he has a buddy requirement... I'm waiting for his paperwork...

As to the low-vis training, sure there's more to it... but it's a poor return compared to something like SDI's Solo program.


Anyway, I'm not overly concerned in the short term, just looking for clarification.

Hopefully, no one ever let's him see Fire-Coral or a Moray... day or night

 

[Thalassamania]

I'd suggest that he only dive with two buddies, otherwise his buddy is essentially in slightly worse shape than if he were diving solo.