Diving with Downs

[DTm]

While several years, away still. I would love for my daughter to experience one of my passions, diving. However she has downs syndrome. I honestly believe she would able to diving and grasp the concepts. I have been looking for some information on training specifically for downs and found little. Or even stories of divers with downs today’s.
Does any know of any information specifically about divers with Downs?

 

[pasley]

Each potential diver must be individually evaluated for their medical, physiological and intellectual suitability to SCUBA dive. I know that divers with Autism often find it a great activity. People with Downs have dove in the past. Much will depend on your child's cognitive level and their ability to make essentially life and death decisions (not holding their breath, calmly handling an emergency and not bolting for the surface etc. A wrong decision could result in someone being seriously injured or killed). You or someone who knows your child well may be required to dive with them.

I suggest you contact Jim Gatacre at Handicapped SCUBA Association (HSAscuba.com). He is the founder and would have information. You might also call Jim Elliott of Diveheart.org a HSA Instructor who heads a very active organization that runs SCUBA Camps around the country (and world).

There are HSA Instructors in Austin TX including Peter L. Oliver HSA Instructor No: 0805 go to the HSA website Http://www.hsascuba.com and under About HSA click on Find Member and then enter his number and that will give you his phone and e-mail contact information.

 

[Crowley]

I have dived with people who have Down's - although both cases were "mild". I've also worked in environments that specifically cater to Down's patients (outside of diving)

The HSA / IAHD etc. have guidlines to accomodate Down's. I've never actually taught a Down's Syndrome diver but there is no reason they should not be able to dive if they are mentally and physiologically capable of doing so. If your daughter is capable of functioning in a regular social envrionment there is no reason she should not be able to dive as a fully qualified open water diver. If her mental capacity/maturity is more limited or she has physiological problems associated with Down's then she may still be able to dive, but through one of the handicapped diving agencies, and with approrpately trained buddies.

One thing I have learned through my experiences with Down's Syndrome is that it takes a LOT of special care, attention and patience to teach somebody - but once they actually get the information set in their head - they NEVER forget - and potentially make better divers than the able bodied. (They will also explain at great length what you're doing wrong! haha!!)


Get a full medical - call DAN and ask for a recommendation for a local hyperbaric physician. There is no real reason why your daughter should not dive is she is well trained and supervised.

One thing I can tell you about Down's Divers - they will love their crappiest dive more than you ever loved your best dive, ever. It is quite simply magnificent to watch!

Good luck to both you and your daughter - I hope she loves it!

Cheers,

C.

 

[bobh_60435]

I certified a young boy with Down's Syndrome this past June. I can't comment on his level of cognitive disability because I have not worked with enough persons with Down's to base any opinion on. He prepped for a trip to the Keys for over 14 months (with other trip participants) by participating in discover scuba events and finally confined water sessions. He was a joy to work with, but for a while I didn't know if he'd be safe in the deep end of a pool, let alone open water. The more experience he got in the pool, though, the better he became.

As someone else stated in this thread, it took a fair amount of one on one attention. Working with him in a group scenario, while it gave him experience, was not really clicking. Just a few hours of one on one got him to turn the corner on holding his breath and his comfort level shot way up. I would not suggested one on one sessions from start to finish, I think that having people to interact with underwater was invaluable... we just needed the extra time and attention to ensure he'd be safe in OW.

In the end, he is currently certified to dive with 3 (qualified) buddies, his dad will most likely pursue scuba certification and I truly believe that if he continues to take advantage of dive opportunities (which he has since going to the Keys), he will master all of the OW skills and be able to render assistance to dive buddies, should the need arise. That is probably a few years down the road, but he'll be encouraged to keep diving.

I think that as far as finding information on training a person with Down's to scuba dive, you'll be hard pressed to locate any. Your best bet is to find a very patient instructor, do at least 2 discover scuba sessions and then feel your way through the process. I can put you in contact with my student's swim coach, who helps coordinate the program this student participated in, who will probably be a wealth of information. I can also give you more detailed information on how his training progressed.

 

[humanbeing]

To the original poster: has your daughter expressed an interest in diving?