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Aiman Ai

deaf AFF

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Hello first good morning I am ayman. I also want to learn AFF how to go. Somehow I wanted to make course. I had parachuted jumps with me a couple of times but would rather jump alone. But I'm deaf, I do not know if it works or should not be. But I really want to make affic. Thanks would be nice if it works.

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There are 'more than a few' deaf jumpers out there. There was one at my original DZ when I started. I got my first rig from him when he quit jumping (due to other factors).
The only one I know still active on here is Billy Vance. And he doesn't jump any more. But he may still be a good person to 'talk' to. 

You'd need to find a DZ willing to work with you. Not all will be. 

I would think that the biggest hurdle would be communication while under canopy. Typically, it's done with radios. That won't work for you. But there are alternative methods. Paddles are the one that comes to mind. Again, it's on the DZ to find a way to make it work. And you have to find a DZ willing to go to the extra effort.

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I'm a sign language interpreter who's going through an A license program pretty soon.
I'm trying to find Deaf folks in the sport, just for sake of community discussion. I see the name Billy Vance appearing a few times here. Anyone know if he's still available to be reached for some Q&A?

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He's not on here any more. He threw a tantrum and posted some crap in Speaker's Corner that earned him a perma-ban.

You might look for him on FB, but he hadn't jumped in quite a while. He kept saying that he wanted to get current and start jumping again, but the last I heard he hadn't.

There was another deaf jumper, who did a lot of the orgainzing for the 'deaf way' stuff a while back. But he hasn't been on here in a long, long time. I can't even remember his user name. 

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Mark Rejohn was that jumper; he is Canadian, and his userid was mdrejohn I think. MX757 is another deaf jumper here on dz.com (although he never did post much), and Fred Goebel in Houston is certainly deaf, and I think he still jumps as well. Fred is definitely on Facebook.

Wendy P.

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On 2/24/2019 at 4:52 AM, Aiman Ai said:

Hello first good morning I am ayman. I also want to learn AFF how to go. Somehow I wanted to make course. I had parachuted jumps with me a couple of times but would rather jump alone. But I'm deaf, I do not know if it works or should not be. But I really want to make affic. Thanks would be nice if it works.

I am an AFF instructor who has taught several deaf skydivers.  It was not a big deal - between hand communication and written communication on the ground that was easy and hand signals.  I used paddles to help them with the landing pattern..

 

 

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I am an AFF instructor and I had the pleasure of teaching a man who is deaf how to skydive this year at my dropzone. It was not difficult at all. We would communicate on the ground and in the airplane on the ride to altitude by typing on a phone and with hand signals. We typed up the various dive flows and printed them out for him to review at his leisure. We used flourescent orange paddles in lieu of radios for canopy instruction. 

 

I was very humbled at the students tenacity and eagerness to learn, and learned that his being deaf was not a disadvantage for him at all. I treated him like every other student and he did excellent. He just graduated from AFF a week or so ago and he is now cleared for solo!

 

Since it took a bit longer for him and I to communicate on the ground for briefing purposes, I feel like I wasn't able to provide him some of the "book stuff" I cover with other students, so I gave him my phone number and we have spent a few evenings text messaging back and forth to ensure he received that information as well.  

 

I consider it a great honor to be able to work with him and all my other students. Everyone learns at a different pace and had their own unique challenges to overcome in the learning process. This particular student did not allow his "disability" to hold him back and had a great attitude the whole time. I wish you the best of luck in your progression to becoming a licensed skydiver! 

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