Private Scuba › A-Z Diving Courses › Specialties › Adaptive Techniques
Having reached the professional levels at PADI, all scuba educators will become more aware about giving individual considerations to dive students with physical or mental challenges.
The coaching you receive in the Adaptive Techniques Specialty course enhances your training and prepares you for making adaptations to the standard ways of helping divers meet their needs.
It's fair to say there will be extra challenges for trainers who work with divers with varying disabilities.
In spite of this, PADI's approach to diver education continues to be an inclusive one.
Put another way:
Every diver that can meet the prerequisites of the course is welcome to enrol and participate in the training.
Thus, PADI's Adaptive Techniques Specialty builds on that foundation.
It enhances the training that scuba professionals need to help divers with special challenges. Moreover, it prepares educators for "student-centred" and "prescriptive" approaches by adapting certain techniques required for disabled divers to meet the goals for certification.
There are minimum age requirements and maximum depth limits for all the specialties that require scuba training dives in open water.
As a result, before you can enrol in the PADI Adaptive Techniques Specialty course you will need to be:
Some of the knowledge and special skills you will learn during the training, include:
The course consists of:
The PADI Adaptive Support Diver is a subset of this course. Participation will help you learn the best way to help support a dive buddy with a physical or mental challenge.
You need to wear standard scuba gear for the training dives conducted in open water. Other specialist equipment may be used to help divers' meet their needs.
To get started, visit your local PADI Dive Center or Freediver Center to enroll in the course and schedule the first class session with a PADI Instructor.
Pro Tip: The PADI Specialties list contains more information about the various training exercises and the special assignments for improving your scuba skills and diving knowledge.