diving with mentally handicapped person

[TerryC]

Good for You Stoy. And long may you continue diving.

 

[Stoy D Dabbs]

Regards to Asperger's Syndrome​

I did research on it, Here is the best I found, What is Aspergers Syndrome?
What is Asperger's Syndrome? | Adult Asperger's Association

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Interesting article on Aspergers.

I have noticed a few kids in our schools labeled as Asperger Spectrial Disorder in the school system. Working with them in Scouts, I noted they were intellectually sound but with some minor behavioral differences from what we consider "normal", similar to other kids with mild ADD. I often wondered how many of them were labeled ASD just for the funding or because the did not fit the mold. In either case, I really would not considered "mentally handicapped".

 

[arkstorm]

I am really glad this topic was brought up. I am a volunteer with the International Association of Handicapped Divers ("IAHD"), an agency that teaches adaptive scuba.

I have been diving with both mentally and physically disabled divers. My experience is that disabled divers make great dive buddies.

Most adaptive divers are very in tune with their needs and limitations and we discuss this prior to every dive.

With specific regards to physically disabled divers, the pre-dive briefing will always include extra emphasis on egress and ingress procedures. One particular diver I dove with did not have the ability to pinch his nose so we even worked out an eye-signal (blinking in a certain way) and I would pinch his nose for him to equalize.

The term adaptive diving refers to both the disabled diver and his/her dive buddy or buddies. All parties must adapt procedures to accommodate the disability. Usually this requires only a little extra planning.

Some "disabled" divers are more capable in the water than you or I and don't you dare try to help them.

I can tell you that some of the adaptive divers I have buddied up with were paraplegic, had severe mental disabilities or were blind. I would have no objection to buddying with a disabled diver who is certified. We would just adapt our procedures accordingly and enjoy the dive.

 

[fjpatrum]

arkstorm, have you had any discussions with your blind buddies about why a blind person would want to dive? What exactly do they get out of it, I mean. They obviously don't see anything and while I find the auditory experience of diving fascinating, I can't imagine diving just for that aspect. Any insights?

 

[arkstorm]

arkstorm, have you had any discussions with your blind buddies about why a blind person would want to dive? What exactly do they get out of it, I mean. They obviously don't see anything and while I find the auditory experience of diving fascinating, I can't imagine diving just for that aspect. Any insights?

Here is my insight:

I once conducted a DSD with a blind diver. After getting her in the water and taking her for a little tour of the pool (I held her hand to guide her away from obstacles) we circled back toward the ladder and stood up. I asked her if she was okay, but the smile on her face made that question moot. I told her we could go again if she wanted to. She said to me, "Its not every day I get to do something like this". There was something so frank and matter of fact in her tone that I was nearly reduced to tears. We stayed in the water until they made us get out.

If I had to guess what a blind diver stands to get from diving I would say it is the feeling of freedom of movement in the water which is not available to them on land. But I am not likely to ever know exactly. What I can tell you for a fact is that if you saw her smile you wouldn't even be asking the question.

 

[fjpatrum]

arkstorm, that makes complete sense. It's really the only thing I could come up with... it just feels wonderful to do something you "can't" do normally, and I suspect that's even more amplified when there is some sort of limitation you have to overcome.

 

[Rhone Man]

It is an interesting thread. I have seen people who were paralysed from the neck down taken diving. I have seen blind people taken diving (I know... why?). Ultimately in the right conditions with enough help and supervision almost anyone can safely dive.

I think it is a beautiful thing when the joy of the underwater world can somehow be shared with those who might not be able to manage it alone. I include the very young and the very old in that, but that is a topic for another thread...

 

[novicediver]

It is hard to say what a blind person experiences when diving except what they tell you, and even then barely scratches the surface of the totality of that experience. My personal experiences with individuals with down sydrome whether profound or mild is that they often view the world with a childlike enthusiasm that many of us have forgotten.

 

[Rhone Man]

It is hard to say what a blind person experiences when diving except what they tell you, and even then barely scratches the surface of the totality of that experience.

All that I really know is that when I did drills in a blacked out mask it was no fun at all...

My personal experiences with individuals with down sydrome whether profound or mild is that they often view the world with a childlike enthusiasm that many of us have forgotten.

I hear you. People treat Downs as a tragedy, but when you get to know people with Downs, you do sometimes wonder if it is such a tragedy, how come they are the really happy ones in this world?