The Blind and Diving

15 years ago, I had the idea that it would be nice to show diving to the handicapped. At that time, this idea was not entirely new – I knew that the diving of people on wheelchairs was relatively common, but it seemed to me as quite a logistic challenge. I was looking for a group of people with a handicap that I could face myself, without the help of other people – like strong guys, who would help me get the handicapped into the pool.

20. 5. 2015 Photos: 13

Foto: Milan "Willy" Benc

I tried to dive with deaf students, but I ran into another problem, or rather two. The first problem was my ignorance of the sign language - I would have needed an interpreter. The second was the perfect knowledge of the sign language by the students, who were happily chatting during the diving and did not follow my instructions. By a coincidence, at the time I heard a radio interview where a blind girl was telling the moderator that she saw a film that was so well dubbed that she did not need an assistant to describe to her what was on the screen. The blind can watch movies? Why, then, should it be impossible for them to dive? The idea excited me so much that I decided to put it into practice immediately. In a few hours of intensive searching, I managed to find 3 blind people who could swim, had a swimsuit on hand and were ready to try diving. On the same day, we went to the pool, among other divers, where we drew understandable attention. We became even more popular after the guide dog of one of the participants became bored in the dressing room and came to see what was going on at the exact moment when its master jumped into the water. The dog reacted perfectly and immediately began the rescue. Those were the rather difficult early days, when we were looking for a way.

The first brave scouts carried away nice experiences and an interest in diving. After the dive, they gave me an answer for a basic question, without which it would make no sense to continue. The same question which many of you have certainly asked after reading the first paragraph.

Why do the blind dive and what’s in it for them? Here are a few of the answers that I got to this question, over time:

“All my life I have been falling somewhere, hitting something, and now I got a 40-minute break from it. Cool!”

“It’s a good thing to get the chicks interested and to talk about over beer”

“There (under the water) was a lot of new sounds, I heard my breath!”

“They say that 80% of perception is visual. I don’t know about that, my eyes don’t work, but I’m fine with the 20% that I’ve got left for the other senses.”

Certainly, none of the blind divers will dive regularly, but it is a good experience for each of them. It is important for each of us to have an equal opportunity to do the things others do – and it is that much more important for people whose handicap a priori disqualifies them from such activities, most of all because of the stereotypes rooted in the public mentality. If the blind show that they can take part even in relatively challenging sports, it might even open the path for them to get better jobs and become more integrated in the society. Each such deed helps to conquer the prejudice in our heads.

About 5 years ago, I had gathered enough experience to be able to promote diving with the blind, but it would have to become part of an official program. At that time, I have contacted my representative during the PADI Members Forum to ask how to incorporate this program into the system. His answer gave me a somewhat unpleasant surprise: “ PADI does not know the term “handicapped”. We assume that each of us has a certain handicap and the question is only whether we can or cannot meet the objectives of a given course. The blind can definitely not meet some of the objectives of the OWD course, therefore, they cannot complete this course. Contact one of the organizations that are engaged in diving for people with disabilities”. I took his advice and contacted such an organization, I think it was IAHD. By means of a reply, I got the price list of courses for instructors and a promise that a fee and a bit of exercise will get me another card for my collection. However, I did not want an instructor card for myself, I wanted official courses for the blind. I failed, but then I realized that the solution was in front of our eyes the whole time – the whole problem was the term we used for what we did. I let each student in the course sign the PADI forms and proceeded according to the manual. The only difference was that this was not the OWD PADI course, but a Discover Scuba program. In the programs of DSD and DS, there are no goals to be reached and the students do not aim for any certification.

I have run the diving with the blind as a variation of these programs, adding a few points to the manual. This gave rise to a set of instructions which I have tried on more than 140 people with various degrees of visual impairment, and I can therefore responsibly say that I know how to do this. The program Blind Diver is based on the standards of DSD and DS, with specifics listed below:

1. One student to one guide only.

There is no reason that would justify taking more than one student with this handicap under the water at the same time.

2. Using only tactile signals! Both from the guide towards the student and vice versa! The tactile signals are based on cavers’ signals. All that is needed is a combination of 4 signals:

1 x press “OK”
4 and more presses “I have a problem”
Hand moving downwards “I want to go down” or “we’re going down”
Hand moving upwards “I want to go up” or “we’re going up”, reply: “OK” and “we’re going up”, that is one press and hand moving upwards.

3. Keeping the maximum depth! It is not at all important to reach a great depth. On the contrary. With increasing depth, there are increased risks, without an increase in the intensity of the experience.

4. The pre-dive preparation is important for establishing contact and trust between the guide and the student. The program begins by helping the student into the premises where the program will take place and by orienting the student in space.

5. If you are not sure how to work with the blind, get help from an organization that deals with this issue! At the present time, I am preparing the specialties Blind Diver PADI for approval. However, whether I succeed or not, I think this is a path on which you can follow me. In these several rules, 15 years of work and experience in diving with the blind is capitalized.

If you want to engage in diving with the blind, you will definitely appreciate some advice, taken from the Czech Blind United Association:

Ten rules of courtesy to the blind

When meeting the blind, other people often become uncomfortable. To remove unnecessary barriers during such meetings, please accept a few useful hints:

Keep in mind that the blind are normal people who have various strengths and weaknesses like everyone else. There are special, intelligent and less gifted people among the blind.
When meeting a blind person, act naturally and with ease. Help where it is necessary, in a tactful and subtle way. However, do not force your help on anybody.
Avoid expressions of compassion – the present-day blind have absolutely no use for it. However, they will very much appreciate even the smallest help in difficult conditions. Therefore, do not allow other people to make disparaging or demeaning statements, the blind have an equal right to respect and recognition as everybody else.
Greet a blind acquaintance first, even though he or she is younger than you, and add his or her name, so that they know the greeting is meant for them.
When entering a room where there is a blind person, make yourself clearly known. If the blind person does not recognize you by voice, say your name. Silent movement of an unknown person close by is of course very unpleasant. Also let the blind person know when you are leaving the room.
It is very unpleasant for the blind if you discuss his or her affairs not directly with them, but with their guide, The guide is only accompanying the blind, not representing them.
When the blind person finds him- or herself in orientation difficulties on the street, at a railway station, ask if you can help them. Loud noise, heavy rain and snow make it difficult for the blind to orient themselves. It is enough to offer the blind to lightly lean or your arm, which makes it possible for them to go a step behind you, follow your steps and react to everything in time.
When getting on board vehicles, never push the blind person in front of you, walk in front of them. Do not push the blind person into the seat, just place his or her hand on to the back of the seat. When getting into the car, place his or her hand on the upper frame of the door.
When a blind person enters a restaurant without a guide, they will definitely appreciate help finding a coat hanger and a free seat. They can handle the food themselves, it suffices to tell them how the food is arranged on the plate. He or she will also appreciate Information about what is on the table (glass of water, vase, ash-tray etc.) and who is sitting at the table.
When you accompany a blind person for a longer time, describe the main features of the surroundings, the furniture in the room and people who are around. In the description, you don’t have to avoid optical impressions and colors.

When I started diving with the blind many years ago, I thought it would be a one-way affair. I just wanted to help in another way than just by sending money to charity funds, not being sure whether the gift would end up where I had sent it. For me, diving is at the same time a profession and a hobby, and to help through diving seemed like good idea. Because my main goal was to help, I did not charge for my work and time. Of course, there are such costs as the rent of the pool, the cost of gas and equipment rental, but these charges are not so high and the blind divers were always willing to pay these for themselves. In the end, diving with the blind was not a financial loss, these activities were always well featured in the media, creating a good PR for my diving school. However, my biggest reward was sitting with the students after the dive and listening to them talking about their experiences and excitement. This gives one the feeling that there is, at least sometimes, a meaning to what he is doing.

Surprisingly, after a few dives, I realized that this activity is giving me a good many things back. Working with the blind literally brought me new perspectives. And not only to me, but also to people who were helping me, including my two sons, who took part in organizing these programs and who were indispensable in the preparations on the ground. I think that the experience was good for them and that they took some of it into their everyday lives.

In our country, there has long prevailed a strange and deeply rooted opinion that people with physical or mental handicaps live in a different universe. Before the revolution, it was, for example, not usual to see a person on a wheelchair on the street – unlike in the neighboring Germany. This was not because there were no such handicapped people here, but these people simply did not get to the street, because of barriers such as stairs, or the unwillingness of builders to create barrier-less entrances. This situation has since dramatically improved and the removal of terrain and building barriers is constituted by law. However, the removal of barriers from our minds is significantly more complicated. If you take up diving with the blind, please let me know.

František Pudil
OWSI PADI no . 92523

Translation : Kristýna Janečková