To explore this question, the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange (NCDE), a project managed by Mobility International USA and sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State, worked with consultants to make "cold calls" to a variety of disability and exchange organizations to evaluate the baseline information being given to callers. The callers, all with different disabilities, asked questions concerning international exchange opportunities and disability-related information overseas based on their own disabilities and interests. This frontline survey was intended to serve as a barometer to measure the receptivity of 26 organizations to the participation of people with disabilities in international exchange programs and to discover some of the organizational practices that encourage and support that participation.

What are the results of the Frontline Survey?

Following each interview the callers completed a reaction form consisting of approximately 15 questions that asked either yes or no questions or asked the callers to rate their responses on a Likert Scale. Callers were also encouraged to add in-depth comments. The conclusions made are based on general patterns that arise from the survey as a whole, not describing any of the specific organizations.

The overall observations indicate both the disability and international exchange organizations were friendly and courteous. However, they often lacked the informational capacity and resources to provide useful responses or referrals regarding international exchange and people with disabilities. Those who did not have readily available information on disability-specific or international exchange questions, were generally found to refer the caller to:

• other uninformed or unavailable staff members in the organization
• the organization’s website that often did not have useful resources for some of the questions the callers were asking
• disability organizations that did not offer international services
• NCDE approximately 48% of the time

What are the best practices that we can learn from this Frontline Survey?

The following are suggestions for what organizations can do to encourage participation by people with disabilities in exchange programs. Organizations can start now to implement some of these practices while at the same time working with NCDE to develop readily available information, knowledge of useful referrals or firsthand experience in how participants with disabilities are accommodated in exchange programs. The callers found that the organizations that positively stood out from the others:

• Brainstormed the possibilities with the caller; this envisioning and objective descriptions of the overseas experience helped to show that the organization was willing to work with the caller, although the organization did not necessarily have experience or knowledge about accommodating participants with disabilities or providing international exchange programs.

• Used a structured form or process that showed the organization had been proactive in planning to receive disability-related or international exchange- related questions; while they may not have had the answers or resources on-hand there seemed to be reassurance that the organization would be able to obtain the information because the staff member was prepared.

• Described accurately the services and resources that are offered by Mobility International USA/ National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange when referring the caller to MIUSA/NCDE; the appropriateness of the referral showed to the callers that the staff member had really heard their questions and understood the referral to be a good match.

• Followed the TTY or relay service etiquette when receiving a call from a hard of hearing or Deaf caller; the person appeared to the caller to have more experience in relating to people from the Deaf culture and in communicating in a non-patronizing manner (as opposed to frontline staff who made the error of referring to the caller in the third person).

What can organizations do that rely on their website to be the place where individuals receive frontline information about their services?

Increasingly, those interested in international exchange are searching websites before calling organizations directly for more information. What can organizations do at this frontline that would portray the organization’s awareness and preparedness for encouraging the participation of individuals with disabilities in their international exchange activities? For international exchange and disability organizations, the three callers had several suggestions that would be beneficial and encouraging to potential callers. These include:

• Stories from past participants with disabilities that had participated in international exchange programs

• Disability contacts in other countries (preferably English-speakers) that an individual could contact to find out more about services and conditions overseas

• All the information that would be sent in print through the mail so people with vision impairments could access the information with their screen-reading software (Note: to ensure the website is accessible, an organization can assess its site and learn how to easily modify it by visiting www.w3.org.)