Possible Underwater Careers?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

RaixenViper

Guest
Messages
195
Reaction score
0
Location
Fullerton, CA
# of dives
0 - 24
What are the shots for a Deaf to major in Commerical Diving (Welder and various underwater careers)?

I am curious what the instructors out there think and since I have no knowledge what the commerical divers have to do on land and on boat so therefore I am asking.

Hear from you all soon.
 
You will not pass the medical requirements and it is a requirement to be able to hear the radio communications in the diving helmet via the cable in the divers umbilicle from the surface.

Aslo all communication in the surface is pretty much verbal just like any construction site.
 
You can maybe get some work in your local aquarium. Some of them have paid positions for divers. The pay isn't all that great, but you don't need the commercial requirements.
 
I understand your doubt, Muddiver.

I am positive there is a way...

There are deaf hardworkers who works in construction sites.
There are deaf pilots out there and they "require" communications with the radio towers.
There are deaf firemen out there and they "require" communication through walk talkies and such.
There are deaf teachers who teaches in public schools to hearing students with no difficulties (even though they cannot or don't want to speak at all).
I met and know all of them who have, had or will hold a career in these fields.
Should I continue to add more fields because there are plenty more that "require" communications but they have found an alternative way.

Now, why can't I too?

So, I am going to find a way. It will help me if you guys give me tips and find a loophole... spread the word about me once you get to know me and what not. I am giving this a shot.
 
I understand your doubt, Muddiver.

I am positive there is a way...

There are deaf hardworkers who works in construction sites.
There are deaf pilots out there and they "require" communications with the radio towers.
There are deaf firemen out there and they "require" communication through walk talkies and such.
There are deaf teachers who teaches in public schools to hearing students with no difficulties (even though they cannot or don't want to speak at all).
I met and know all of them who have, had or will hold a career in these fields.
Should I continue to add more fields because there are plenty more that "require" communications but they have found an alternative way.

Now, why can't I too?

So, I am going to find a way. It will help me if you guys give me tips and find a loophole... spread the word about me once you get to know me and what not. I am giving this a shot.

He is not doubting, merely stating a fact. Some jobs have "conditions of employment" that include automatic disqualifiers. Sometimes those disqualifiers include insulin dependant diabetics, or vision less than 20/50 corrected, or deafness.

Where have you met a deaf firefighter? Public safety occupations and the military have the most automatic disqualifiers, generally for safety reasons. When I taught at the high school level I had a hearing impaired student who wanted to be a police officer so badly it broke her heart because she could not get around the disqualifier. She did study forensics and became a civilian crime scene tech though.

There are other underwater careers other than commercial diving; some marine biology, underwater archeology, general science diving, there is probably a niche for teaching SCUBA to other hearing impaired people.

You seem to have the right attitude and may even end up creating your own underwater career. Study what is out there now and see if a need exists that you can fill, or can create a need for your services.
 
Don’t get Muddiver wrong. What he’s saying is you more than likely will not pass the physical. Granted there are many fields that require voice communications where the deaf can fit in very well. The problem with commercial diving is that you will be on your own and as far as I know there is no room for the visual text units to be installed in the helmets. You may also be working in very limited visibility where a text unit couldn’t be read. That would put you in a position to have no communication at all.

Then there is the issue of you having to pay your dues top side as a tender first. I don’t think many companies out there will be willing to double the tender cost of tenders so that one has communication skills.

Good luck in your quest to get this done. By all means keep us posted on how you’re progressing. If you are successful it may open up a lot of new doors for the hearing impaired.

Gary D.
 
Indeed, Gary D. I will keep the board updated with the process and where I am going to end up. =)

Adurso, I have met a deaf firefighter in Lakewood, Washington. he has been a firefighter for the past 5 years.

There are certainly other careers other than just commercial diver which is why I included the word itself- "Careers" meaning plural not just single career. =)

Off to check what they got for me!
 
Indeed, Gary D. I will keep the board updated with the process and where I am going to end up. =)

Adurso, I have met a deaf firefighter in Lakewood, Washington. he has been a firefighter for the past 5 years.

There are certainly other careers other than just commercial diver which is why I included the word itself- "Careers" meaning plural not just single career. =)

Off to check what they got for me!

...but I just can't fathom a deaf Firefighter. Perhaps his role in the F.D. is somewhat restricted?

As to the deepsea, I'm sorry, but I just can't imagine it in a tethered diving application either. Too much depends on verbal communicaton.

How about u/w cinematography? Why not contact some u/w professional photographers & see what they think.

I feel your need my friend; the deeps was all-consuming for me for many years. Keep talking to people, keep your mind open to all possibilities. Hey - perhaps Fisher's group needs some treasure divers down there in the keys...

Now we're talkin'!

Best,
DSD
 
Indeed, Gary D. I will keep the board updated with the process and where I am going to end up. =)

Adurso, I have met a deaf firefighter in Lakewood, Washington. he has been a firefighter for the past 5 years.

There are certainly other careers other than just commercial diver which is why I included the word itself- "Careers" meaning plural not just single career. =)

Off to check what they got for me!

DeepSeaDan reminded me of another underwater career when he mentioned cinematography. I was diving with a guy from Woods Hole, he is also a vedeographer for the History Channel and works with John Chatterton. Evan told me he got into videography via lighting. He started out in theatre and then got a job doing lighting for a videographer and then moved into filming.

As DeepSeaDan suggested you may want to contact some underwater videographers and photographers and perhaps see if they have any internships available.

My son got into sound design in film work by interning (unpaid) and building a resume. You might do the same for underwater lighting, film, or sound.
 
There are deaf pilots out there and they "require" communications with the radio towers. There are deaf firemen out there and they "require" communication through walk talkies and such.

While your frustration is understandable, these two examples, if true, are cause for alarm. In such cases, accommodating someone's disability is endangering lives. Both the pilot and the firefighter are at a disadvantage for vital communications in an activity where the safety and lives of other people are dependent upon their performance. There is no excuse for not requiring every normal ability and advantage to effect that safety.

Now, why can't I too?

Because you lack an ability that 99.9% of the population has, and that is necessarily going to create limitations you may not like.

My first boss was a very "portly" Russian man, and when confronted with questions like this, he would respond "I cannot be belly dancer. That does not make be bad person, but it is what it is. I must accept and move on." We all face limitations based on the way we are. At 5'9", I never had any chance to make the NBA.

There have been several good suggestions of alternatives to commercial diving as an underwater career, some of them, like cinematography, well suited to your abilities. However, keep in mind that professional underwater cinematographers are cinematographers first, divers second - diving is just how they get to the job. You don't mention any background in photography, imaging, theater, or any visual arts, and you'd probably need to establish proven talent above water before anyone's going to put you underwater where there are even more factors that can blow the scene.

Most aquariums have volunteers beating down the door - they're not likely to pay you any living wage to do what they can get done for free. Everyone I know who's paid to do any diving in an aquarium setting is an animal care specialist with veterinary training, or trains performing aquatic mammals, which pretty much requires a degree in either psych or theater, with a minor in the other one.

The majority of diving jobs are really entertainment jobs, which require excellent communication skills, to the level that hearing is practically a requirement. PADI has even said they're in the entertainment business.

While you might find a career in diving, you're competing for some very low paying jobs against a huge number of people who walk in the door with an advantage you can never match.

It will help me if you guys give me tips and find a loophole...

Find a loophole? In rules that exist to keep people safe? Think about that for a minute. Bottom line, it's not a likely thing, and for good reason. The rules exist for a reason, not as the result of a conspiracy to squash your dreams.

This doesn't have to be a negative, though. You're no different from the many hearing people who get into diving and get filled with starry-eyed romanticism about a career in diving, only to post here and find out the pay is lousy, the work often grueling and uninspiring, and the burnout rate very high. Like those who post here almost weekly with such aspirations, you should understand that there's no better way to ruin something you love than making it your job, that you HAVE to do. I know many people who followed this path, most of them were not only in different careers within 8 years, they completely quit diving within 10.

Choose a career path on where you have distinct advantages, not disadvantages. There's a whole new science of strengths psychology devoted to this approach. Find the thing that you can do better than anyone else - that's the best thing you can do. Maximize your strengths, rather than overcoming your weaknesses, and earn lots of money to spend on diving on YOUR terms, not your hypothetical employers'. You'll be financially better off and you'll get far more enjoyment out of diving.
 

Back
Top Bottom