Based in Thailand, PADI Course Director Mark Slingo offers adaptive scuba training to PADI Members anywhere,

but primarily in the Asia Pacific region. Slingo is a dynamic example of someone who is motivated to pass along his pointers and techniques for working with people with injuries or disabilities. In addition to conducting PADI Instructor Development Courses, Slingo specializes in showing others how to properly interact with, train and motivate people who have overcome physical challenges.  

As Slingo’s personal mobility comes from a wheelchair, those he teaches truly benefit from someone with first-hand experience. Teaching primarily through Disabled Divers International (DDI), Mark says the DDI Instructor course is open to PADI Divemasters and above.

He points out the major training goal: “To see what a difference we can

make; to think adaptively rather than focusing solely on logistics; and to read PADI performance requirements in a new way.”

To clarify, Slingo explained that the course encourages you to think beyond the way you may have been taught to do a skill,

and to really read the performance requirement and open your mind to various ways to meet it. The training Slingo offers

runs over two or three days and includes confined water and open water work. Divemasters taking the training automatically

become DDI instructors once they become PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors. The course builds on how to handle

divers with various limitations, with indepth information on the frame of mind the person taking training from you may

have. It covers social adaptation, things to consider as the dive professional, learning about various types of disabilities and

ways to work with them. It also addresses adapting dive centers, equipment, special considerations for chairs, desks and

doors, confined and open water, and entries/ exits.