Freedom Divers International Foundation will offer a Try Scuba course for disabled veterans, people with disabilities and their families Saturday.

“Just because you’re disabled, it doesn’t give you a restriction in the water,” said Kurt Clifton, Midwest region director of Disabled Divers International and member of the Freedom Divers International Foundation.

The non-profit Freedom Divers International Foundation [FDIF], along with NIU and the Department of Kinesiology, will hold the second annual Try Scuba course from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Anderson Hall pool Saturday.

Each participant will be allotted a 30 minute session. Participants must have a medical release and waiver signed prior to diving. Pre-registration is also required.

According to a press release, the course provides “the opportunity for everyone to enjoy the weightlessness of our underwater world, and…allows those with disabilities to interact with others in a way they may have never had otherwise.”

One of the key characteristics that sets FDIF apart is they don’t just work with people with disabilities but also include their families, Kurt said.

“If you don’t have the family support, you’re not going to do it,” Kurt said. “Just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you can’t do what other people can do and you can do it as a family.”

Kurt said he has worked with just about every type of disability from kids with autism to paraplegics.

“As long as they have the cognitive ability of at least 10 years or older, they’re pretty easy to teach,” Kurt said.

FDIF relies on local volunteers such as high school students and boy scouts to help set up the event. Many volunteers from local law enforcement agencies also partake in the event, sometimes even using their own vacation time to help out with the event, Kurt said.

NIU Police officer Karen Clifton participated in the Try Scuba course in April 2011. Karen said at first, everyone is a little nervous.

“This is all new territory for most people,” Karen said.

However, after getting in the water and reemerging, most participants have an “ear-to-ear smile,” Karen said.

Karen has been a certified scuba instructor since 1986 and is certified by two different agencies to teach scuba diving to people with disabilities.

Water is the great “equalizer” and scuba diving can be very therapeutic for a lot of people, Karen said.

“When you’re underwater and on scuba it’s very quiet, all you hear is our breathing and your bubbles,” Karen said. “It’s a different environment – a different world – and it can be very relaxing.”

Kurt said each diver that participates in the course must go through a Dive Buddy program to learn specific techniques used when teaching diving to people with disabilities. The hardest part is to know when to approach a participant and offer help, Kurt said.

As of Wednesday afternoon, about 17 people have signed up for the course, Karen said.