Join us during Concurrent Session Block 1 9:45-10:30am for A Global Education: Supporting International Students with Disabilities.

International students with disabilities experience many cultural and linguistic barriers when it comes to accessing services and supports for a disability. Session participants will learn how international student services, disability staff, faculty, and student health professionals can come together to ensure international students with disabilities have the reasonable accommodations and support they need to succeed.

Discover how culture and identity as a person with a disability can create internal conflicts for international students with disabilities and how community colleges can support these students. Presenters will share their experiences addressing cultural differences, creating interdepartmental partnerships, and developing resources to ensure international students are successful. The National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange and panel members will share practical tools and approaches for working with international students with disabilities, discuss the differences in cultural approaches to providing disability accommodations, and answer some of the most commonly asked questions from international student advisors and faculty. Participants will learn how to:

• Encourage students to disclose a disability
• Facilitate the necessary documentation and request for services
• Advise international students and prepare them for U.S. disability laws and culture
• Use concepts of universal design to make the classroom more accessible to all students
• Create partnerships between the international student offices, faculty, disability support services, and on campus health professionals to provide culturally sensitive supports to international students