PADI announced a new Adaptive Techniques Specialty course at DEMA Show 2017.
The new course is designed to give PADI professionals the ability to make Scuba and Freediving training more accessible for individuals with disabilities.
The new speciality will enable professionals to adapt already successful teaching methodologies to students with disabilities. The course covers all aspects of dive education, including classroom, confined water and open water training. The PADI Adaptive Techniques Specialty course educates instructors on the various types and levels of disability, and gives them the tools to tailor dive courses to students with both physical and mental disabilities.
The new course does not just focus on teaching disabled divers, but also has a subsection called the Adaptive Support Diver. This sub-course is designed to teach divers how to better support buddies with mental or physical disabilities. Divers must be at least 15 years old to enroll in the Adaptive Support Diver course.
You can find out more about the PADI Adaptive Techniques Specialty course here.