Learning Disabilities & Diving

[humanbeing]

Corey, I think when you begin diving, you will have a whole different attitude about yourself and your learning. It wouldn't surprise me if you call into question everything you have been told about yourself, including the labels that have been applied to you.

 

[herbdb]

I agree, you may surprise yourself. Every person with this type of disability is different.

My now 21 year old son has a diagnosis of Asperger's, PDD, ADHD. His intelligence is in the average range, but his learning disabilities required him to attend a specialized school. He takes medication that helps, but still requires a lot of personal attention to help him master new material.

We checked out together during a three month trip to the Bahamas when he was 18. We had to get clearance from both his family doctor and his psychiatrist before he could start his training.

I helped him and coached him with the written materials. He has an extraordinary memory, but I worked to make sure he actually understood the information. We had our own instructor for pool and open water work, but he really had no problems.

His enthusiasm is extraordinary and he is developing into a very good diver. He is an excellent buddy, and very observant underwater. His fascination with diving gives him a level of attention that he doesn't see in other pursuits. It has been a big boost to his self-confidence too.

It sounds like you have a passion for diving. Get the medical clearances and if there are no obstacles go for it.

 

[pasley]

HSA of course trains us to dive with Autism. Again, just as with every potential SCUBA diver, individual ability and suitability to dive is just that, individual and must be evaluated on a case by case basis.

I have met one autistic diver who lives in Northern California. His mother will tell how SCUBA Diving changed his life. There are also several hyperbaric chambers being funded by non-profits in the USA dedicated to Autism as they have, like we have with SCUBA, seen results. Goggle Autism Hyperbaric for more information. Age wise, for any child I would not encourage SCUBA before age 14, but that is my personal thoughts and does not apply to the industry. What scares me most is that responsible, sensible, takes no chances child of 10-14 when they turn 15 or 16 and suddenly know no fear and are deliberate risk takers saying "that won't happen to me" when reminded of the risk.

 

[jclomi1]

Hey
I have some learning diablities as well and just failed my PADI open water test exam and going to do part b on tuesday. My instructor went over everything I got wrong and told me what I should study for. The biggest problem I had was with he Dive tables but Im the type of person who never gives up especially when I want to do something. Also any study suggestions would also be helpful so if anyone is reading please let me know
Thanks
Jeffrey

 

[pasley]

Learning the dive tables can be challenging at first glance and once you understand them you will say, "what is the big deal? That is so simple". It is a case of letting appearances make something simple hard.

You don't say which agency you are certifying with and dive tables do vary. So I will not attempt to cover how to use them here. Just remember the dive table tells you these basic things:
1. The No Decompression limits (NDL) for a planned depth or in other words the maximum time you can stay underwater with a planned depth of X.
2. Your letter group for the amount of nitrogen it is assumed you adsorbed during a dive to a specified depth (the deeper you go the faster (or more) you absorb nitrogen)
3. Your letter group for the amount of nitrogen it is estimated remains in your body after a Surface Interval (SI) of________(however long you did).
4. The amount of nitrogen (Residual Nitrogen Time or RNT) expressed in minutes at a specified depth remaining in the body after the Surface Interval (SI).
5. The Adjusted No Decompression Limits (ADL) for a given depth, or how long you can dive after you have already done one dive and a SI.

Item 4 is what gives most people challenges. All it is saying is this:
1. You have nitrogen in your body left from your previous dive as you start your next dive.
2. That nitrogen is expressed as the number of minutes at a specified depth it would take you to absorb that amount of nitrogen. That time must be subtracted from your next dive because you have already dove it.

Example: Think of your body as a bottle. The bottle is empty at the start of the dive day (you have not dove in the past 24 hours). You are filling the bottle from a bucket (nitrogen)that has a string tied between the bottle top and the pails upper lip causing the pail to tip over and pour into the bottle when you lower (dive) the bottle. The lower (deeper) the bottle goes, the faster the pail pours the water into the bottle. You cannot overflow the bottle or there will be a penalty (decompression) as you will have to clean up the mess. The time it takes to completely fill the bottle is NDL. The NDL will vary by how low (deep) you lower the bottle and consequently how fast the bucket pours nitrogen into the bottle. When the bottle is on the table (surface) it leaks out some of its contents slowly. If the bottle was full it would take 24 hours for the leak to drain the bottle. The first time (dive 1) you lower (dive) the bottle, you can fill it completely full from the pail (remembering you are not allowed to over fill it [(NDL]). The second time (dive 2) you lower (dive) the bottle, since it already has some liquid in it (RNT), you can not pour as much into the bottle and it will fill up faster since you have a head start on filling it. So the amount of time it will take to fill the bottle the 2nd time will be less than the first time (ADL) and must be adjusted. How much depends on how deep you lower the bottle (dive). This will of course be true for all other dives in the next 24 hours after the last dive.


It is important to learn to use the dive tables as it leads to a better understanding of the limits of diving and what to do if you do not have a dive computer or if the dive computer malfunctions. That said, some dive agencies now state "It is acceptable for students to be instructed in the use of their personally owned dive computers in lieu of using dive tables for dive planning."

Confusing? A bit. but practice, practice, practice will make it simple. You can do this.