Finding a Good Fit: Two Students Study Abroad with ADHD
Smiles emerge on the Japanese storekeepers faces as Jonathon, an obvious foreigner, asks a question in their language. Jonathon, a University of Iowa graduate student who is spending a semester abroad, loves this interaction with the locals, both for absorbing the culture and practicing his Japanese language skills.
However, inside Japan’s Nyganzan University classroom, his experience is quite different. For students, like Jonathon, with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the differences in educational expectations may affect students in ways typical accommodations, such as extended time on tests, don’t address.
“I find that in America there is more understanding for disabled students. If you’re late three minutes you can make up a test instead of taking an ‘F’; if you lose a sheet of paper they don’t say, ‘Find it on your own from another student,’ they will just give me another copy because they understand why I lost the sheet of paper. I felt like the professors in Japan thought I was perhaps doing it on purpose or that I didn’t have a disability,” says Jonathon, who chose to return home a semester early due to these issues with his professors.
With thousands of education abroad programs available to U.S. students today, identifying a program with the cultural aspects, educational system or environment that may be more conducive to the type of learning an individual is seeking can be a challenge. University-based programs are not the only option, as internships, service-learning and experiential programs now build in academic credit in creative ways.
Jonathon discovered too late that his program wasn’t a good match for him. “I would be sitting in the classroom repeating to myself ‘Don’t walk out of the room – just sit here and tolerate it,”’ says Jonathon about the required class schedule that lasted all morning without breaks. “Then, just acting on an impulse, I would be already out of the room. I explained to them I didn’t mean to do this on purpose, and they said ‘Just try your best.’ They didn’t offer me any solution until the last two weeks of the term and then it was too late.”
The Japanese educational system tends to use teacher-centered instruction instead of interactive lessons, and self-study instead of specific assignments, which made it hard for Jonathon to understand what he should focus on. Tests also covered more chapters than he was used to at home. Unfortunately, Jonathon wasn’t able to get the academic and disability-related support he needed during the professors’ office hours, and didn’t know that contacting his home university in Iowa could have provided some assistance.
“I try to stay in touch with our students throughout their stay,” says Lisa Baum, who is a study abroad advisor at San Jose State University in California. “For some of them, it’s a mental block because I’m on the other side of the world, and they feel like I’m not accessible. But, with email, I can get back to them within 12 hours. Usually I can find something to help them from here.” For example, students could arrange via the Internet weekly check-ins with their disability advisor or personal coach back home or find a way to access audio books, says Shelley Shinebarger, who directs the disability service office at the University of Pittsburgh.
Paula, who has ADD, experienced similar course structuring as a study abroad student from Bethel College in Minnesota, enrolled at a university in Lithuania. “For the Lithuanian professors, they have a list of 15 books as suggested reading, and they will take information from those books for tests, yet they never really assign any specific readings to prepare [for the tests]. It was impossible to do all of that reading, and it was difficult knowing what they expected,” says Paula. “I tried to go over the headers, introductory paragraphs and conclusions of each chapter, so it gave me an idea of what different things might come up on a test. I wouldn’t have had time to do more because I’m such a slow reader.”
She found her Lithuanian professors were quite willing to help her when she sought them out during their office hours. Also, Paula’s professors provided her note taking and extended time accommodations to account for extra distractions caused by background noises during classes. These accommodations were negotiated before she went abroad. Students should follow-up with instructors or staff in the host country to further explain what they need, and should know the designated contact person if accommodations aren’t working while abroad.
“It wasn’t enough to say ‘I have ADD, this is what I need’ and leave it at that. The professors got my accommodation letter [from the U.S. college] and knew the situation, but didn’t ask me about it or talk with me about it. A couple of the professors were a little confused as to why I had this letter from my college,” says Paula. “I talked with professors and told them ‘I’m struggling with this…’ it kept them informed and they were a lot more willing to work with me and give me tips on how to deal with studying differently. In Lithuania disability [accommodations] are not as acknowledged as in the United States. Because I came forward, they acknowledged it more, at least in my case.”
Despite the pitfalls that students with AD/HD may encounter overseas, college students with AD/HD choosing to study abroad continues to increase. The positive gains in personal identity development from being abroad, and the applicability of international skills in today’s global society, can outweigh the barriers.
While both Paula and Jonathon chose several month long university-based programs with native faculty, the novelty and intensity of short-term study abroad programs and U.S. faculty-led group programs may provide the right elements to create positive outcomes for students with AD/HD, according to a 2005 research study conducted by Landmark College (read the study at http://www.frontiersjournal.com/documents/ShamesAldenFrontiersAug05.pdf). These benefits, the study concluded, include increases in: intellectual and social curiosity, academic and intercultural knowledge, time management, organizational skills, independence and self-confidence.
For example, less insulation in buildings, more activity in the streets, and classes held during field trips, can all lead to more distractions than students are used to at home. “Studying abroad was more difficult because in Lithuania it was harder to find quiet places to study. The school was very small, basically three rooms, so there was nowhere to go and hide to study,” says Paula. “I had to learn time management better because anytime I found somewhere that was reasonably quiet I had to take the opportunity. I had to allow more time for studying because I couldn’t concentrate as well when it was louder.”
Jonathon also recognizes that much of what he gained abroad couldn’t be calculated in a grade point average. “I think I had too much of an [academic] expectation,” says Jonathon. “If your grades aren’t [what you expected] when you study abroad, don’t worry about it because it’s really an experience to live in a new country. The lessons that you learn outside of class and about yourself are going to triple the amount that you’re going to learn inside of classroom. I’m definitely a changed person for the rest of my life.”
Portions of this article appear in its online A World Awaits You journal in the June 2006 issue focusing on study abroad students with non-apparent disabilities. Read the issue here.
