PADI and the ADA

[aslinterpreter]

Hello everyone! I am a PADI instructor and also a freelance ASL interpreter. I have a Deaf student that is enrolled for the DM program at our local shop. I am not teaching this DM class, the Course Director that owns the shop is. My question is, who is responsible for providing the interpreter as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA.... the local shop, or PADI. It would seem to me that PADI would be responsible to pay for the interpreter since it is their class that is being offered. Does anyone know who i could talk to at PADI about this?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[RJP]

Hello everyone! I am a PADI instructor and also a freelance ASL interpreter. I have a Deaf student that is enrolled for the DM program at our local shop. I am not teaching this DM class, the Course Director that owns the shop is. My question is, who is responsible for providing the interpreter as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA.... the local shop, or PADI. It would seem to me that PADI would be responsible to pay for the interpreter since it is their class that is being offered. Does anyone know who i could talk to at PADI about this?

Thanks in advance for your help!

As a PADI instructor I would think you would understand that PADI is NOT offering the class. The local shop is offering the class.

 

[scubamarketing]

Books are written, videos are closed captioned, slates can be used in the pool along with standard hand signals, at least the one time (yes, only one time so I’m by no means an expert) I had a deaf student we were told no one was responsible for providing an interpreter. If the student wants one, he or she needs to provide it. But as RJP said, PADI is not offering the class, so if there’s a question of who provides one, it’s either the dive shop/instructor or the student, PADI has nothing to do with it. Call the ADA information line to be sure: 800-514-0301

 

[tursiops]

As a PADI instructor I would think you would understand that PADI is NOT offering the class. The local shop is offering the class.

+1

In addition, the new PADI OW class has a new element in the open water dives: "Audible signal – Instructor now introduces and employs an audible underwater signal. Divers understand that upon hearing it, they must look at the instructor for direction." It is not clear yet how this works -- the new teaching material is not yet available (maybe it will be at DEMA). It is hard to imagine how one accommodates to this new requirement.

 

[RJP]

Questions for the OP:

Would YOU by any chance be the interpreter that you and the course director are interested in finding PADI or someone else to pay for?

 

[ams511]

My advice would be to contact an attorney because certain states have additional requirements. Under Federal rules your shop may not even be covered under the act.

 

[RJP]

My advice would be to contact an attorney because certain states have additional requirements. Under Federal rules your shop may not even be covered under the act.

If the shop is open to the public and resells merchandise purchased by the shop and shipped to them from another state or country it is likely to be considered "a public accommodation engaged in commerce" and fall under the ADA.

The question would more likely be whether an interpreter is a reasonable, or even necessary, accommodation. The fact that a deaf person is ASL fluent does not mean that an ASL interpreter must be provided. As mentioned above, written, video, and other non-audio/audible materials are available. As such, being asked to provide an ASL interpreter may be considered "unreasonable" under ADA enforcement guidance.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

All that is true but what about the material for which no written or visual resources exist? For example, the CD's own experiences and knowledge.

As such if the shop/instructor agreed to even take on this student it would seem to me that they would have the foresight and good sense to discuss this with the student. Anyone who was capable of coming up with a good dive plan should be able to see that this is part of any good educational plan. Unless the student insists on having or agrees to provide their own interpreter then the shop or instructor should.

Failure to consider this when taking on this student would make me question the overall planning skills of the instructor and CD.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[RJP]

Failure to consider this when taking on this student would make me question the overall planning skills of the instructor and CD.

Frankly, I'm wondering if a profoundly deaf person can be an effective DM. How does one respond to a call for help? How would you conduct an effective rescue or response to a medical emergency. Two weeks ago I was involved in a rescue, resuscitation, and evacuation of a student who became unresponsive at the surface after completing OW dive #3. If I had been deaf... you may have heard about the story two weeks ago in the Condolences or at least Incidents & Accidents section.

 

[scubamarketing]

Wow RJP, glad everything turned out okay. As far as emergencies go, it sounds like you handled that one perfectly.

I can't believe I missed the part about this being for a DM class. I'm with you, it seems like some significant challenges for a deaf DM. Hopefully someone can chime in who either is one or has worked with one to give us some real life feedback on how it works.