Participant: one deaf student with strongly limited sight

Instructors: two

Support staff: interpreter

We started out with a short theory session about the basics and what to think of while scuba-diving. The student had previous experience of skin-diving and snorkeling, this made in water training easier. It was a bit of a challenge to use an interpreter, since I have limited experience of that. But once you got a hold of it, the theory session felt like a normal conversation.

When we reached the water it was mostly a question of placing the instructors, student and interpreter I positions where we all could interact. The interpreter stayed on the poolside to help with communication. The skills themselves went smoothly since the student was eager to learn and had water experience. The hardest part was finding buoyancy due to the lack of references because of the limited sight. After a while and some communication we used one of the instructors as a physical reference to the diver and things went easier.

Experiences

Listen to the stud

ent and adapt your techniques to their needs. They know how to use you in an efficient way. Always use external professional help if there´s a need for this. In this case an interpreter. Things wouldn´t have went as smoothly as they did if it hadn´t been for the professional interpreter.

Anyone can enjoy the greatness of scuba-diving, we just have to listen and adapt an approach and techniques that works in the specific situation.

Stefan Isaksson

DDI and PADI OWSI instructor