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Being in a wheelchair is not an obstacle for people to dive, who is a PADI Adaptive Techniques Specialist Diver?
The diver of the diving club "Divings" Livu Weiherti Grīnberga has acquired a new and unique diving specialty in the Baltic countries - "PADI Adaptive Techniques Specialist Diver". The diver is the first professional diver PADI Divemaster in Latvia who has obtained the specialty -"PADI Adaptive Techniques Specialist Diver“! Liva the diver can now help people with disabilities to dive. The PADI Adaptive Methods Specialty course focuses on increasing awareness of different abilities and offers adaptive learning methods to be used when training and diving with divers with physical and mental disabilities.
Being in a wheelchair is not an obstacle for people to dive!
If you have an acquaintance or friend who moves around in a wheelchair, has mobility impairments, is recovering from a stroke, or has severely blurred vision, then this is not an obstacle to learning to scuba dive, experience weightless flight in the underwater world, and even become a certified diver. Invite your friends and acquaintances to start training this year, the diving training program is free.
People with special needs, relatives and friends benefit from knowing how to help
Friends or family members who dive with divers with special needs will benefit from a training program “PADI Adaptive Support Diver“, which is for divers who dive with divers with special needs!
- Becoming more knowledgeable and aware of individual considerations when diving with people with disabilities.
- Adaptive techniques that can be used when diving with friends with mental and/or physical challenges.
What is the PADI Adaptive Support Diver certification?
For people with disabilities, whether they use a wheelchair, have a vision impairment or a neurological condition such as cerebral palsy, scuba diving can be a beneficial activity that offers freedom and mobility in the weightless state of water. PADI Adaptive Support Diver Specialty (“PADI Adaptive Support Diver“) is a course designed to teach friends and family members adaptive techniques for diving with a friend who has a disability.
“All PADI Diving Courses - from Discover Scuba and Open Water Diver to Divemaster and beyond have long been accessible to people of all abilities,” says Fraser Bathgate, PADI Adaptive Techniques Coordinator, who became the world's first wheelchair-bound PADI Professional in the 1990s. “I insist that we need a program for those who want to be friends with people with disabilities.”
What are the benefits of PADI Adaptive Support Diver certification?
The course covers a variety of scenarios, including diving with people who have limited mobility due to paralysis or amputation, and supporting divers who are blind or have hidden disabilities. “The program focuses on what people can do, not what they can't do,” Bathgate explains. An essential part of the major is educating students about the experiences of divers with disabilities to help them understand what it's like to dive with adaptive techniques. Many students take the course to support a specific person in their life, and the instructor can work with them to learn the specific skills they need.
What will you learn in the PADI Adaptive Support Diver Certification Training?
The PADI Adaptive Support Diver curriculum includes knowledge reviews and practice on land, as well as two confined water sessions and two open water dives. Divers learn skills such as how to get a person to the water, help them get into the water, and help with equipment. They also learn water skills such as descents and ascents and guiding a blind diver at depth.
The specialty can be learned by any open diver who is at least 15 years old and has completed the EFR within the last two years (Emergency First Response) primary and secondary care course. PADI also recommends Peak Performance Buoyancy Diver course to improve diving skills and buoyancy.
Where to apply for the PADI Adaptive Support Diver course?
Instructor PADI MSDT Valters Praimanis
Phone +371 22 077 202
- PADI Adaptive Techniques Specialist Diver instructor for PADI professionals– trainer in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania (Baltic countries)
- PADI Adaptive Support Diver instructor for PADI recreational divers – trainer in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania (Baltic countries)
- PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Diver instructor – trainer in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania (Baltic countries)
- Emergency First Response instructor – trainer in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania (Baltic countries)
