Excerpted from Building Bridges: A Manual on Including People with Disabilities in International Exchange Programs with additions by Pamela Houston and Michele Scheib

More than once the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange (NCDE) has received the plea across the telephone line, "We have a participant with a disability arriving in the US soon and we don’t have a homestay for him." This is not a good situation to be in whether the international participant has a disability or not. However, the difference lies in that the exchange organization often has been able to place all of their nondisabled participants. This leaves us questioning, "Why does this one participant not have a homestay?"

After conversations with exchange coordinators, it seems that the worries often boil down to assumptions about:

• The needs and abilities of people with disabilities
• What an accessible home looks like.

If homestays are an integral part of an exchange program operated by an entity that is required to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act or other applicable federal or state law, then these US organizations must try to do everything they can to provide the same opportunity for participants with disabilities, or offer an equivalent alternative that achieves the same benefit or result.

Success stories: the homestay experience

Steps to Inclusion

1. How to Build Inclusion into the Homestay Process
2. Where to Find Homestays that are Accessible
3. Homestay Home Visit Checklist

Building Inclusion into the Homestay Process

Mobility International USA (MIUSA) has been conducting international exchange programs that include homestays for people with and without disabilities both in the US and abroad for over 25 years. Here is what we’ve found to work:

• Any family qualified to be a homestay in your program is a potential match for participants with disabilities. Preparing homestay families in advance to be open to accepting those with disabilities creates potential for successful homestay placements. If recruiters and advisors are excited and comfortable about this option, homestay families will most likely be receptive.

• Try not to overemphasize the participant’s disability. Remember that you are dealing with a person with unique talents, personality and hopes. As with other participants, families will need to know who the participant is as a whole person.

• Advisors can reassure hosts by identifying the specific accommodations the guest will need and discussing whether necessary adaptations can be made. Most people who have disabilities are quite independent in their daily lives. The kinds of adaptations needed by one person might not be necessary for another. With a few initial adaptations and adjustments, a disabled exchange participant may need no more assistance than someone who is not disabled.

• It is reassuring for potential homestay providers to have a representative of the exchange program visit the home to check for accessibility. This can be done as part of the regular homestay process. It may be helpful to make the visit with someone who has a disability similar to the exchange participant's prior to his/her arrival.

• Advisors should involve the disabled participant as much as possible in making homestay accommodations. Organizations can work as a team with disabled participants to approach accessibility issues with imagination and good humor.

The key to successfully including people with disabilities in the homestay experience is to plan to include someone with a disability as a normal part of the process rather than as a crisis situation. It may initially take more time to locate an appropriate homestay placement for a participant with a disability, but once contacts are formed with disability organizations and families willing to host people with disabilities, the process becomes more streamlined.

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Where do you find homestays that are accessible?

A source of homestays may be those in the community who have family members with disabilities. They may be very interested in learning about a person with a disability from another country and may already have an understanding of disability-related accommodations that may be needed.

Helpful organizations for recruiting homestay families include independent living centers and disability advocacy groups, rehabilitation centers, Deaf clubs or churches, adaptive sports clubs, special education departments, organizations related to specific disabilities and even businesses that sell adaptive equipment. These contacts are a great way to expand your base of homestay contacts and to represent the diversity within the United States for both disabled and non-disabled exchange students.

As with all other participants, some exchange participants with disabilities will succeed, others will succeed with some assistance and others may not be successful at all. All participants should have the opportunity to participate in any exchange program for which they are qualified. It is the responsibility of exchange professionals to help provide equal opportunities for all applicants.

NCDE has also produced a video for homestay families on this topic, Home is in the Heart. It contains valuable information for potential homestay families regarding accommodating people with disabilities in homestay arrangements, and includes tips for practical, low-cost modifications. Contact NCDE for further information about this and other NCDE resources.

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Host Family Home Visit Checklist

Family Name:

Address:

Telephone:

E-mail:

Bring any host family forms, organizational brochures and a measuring tape

As you are approaching the home, take note of these items:

The location of the house: Urban   Suburb    Rural

Distance to school or center participant will attend regularly:

Access to local public transportation (bus or train):

6 blocks or less               7 or more blocks

Accessibility of local public transportation (wheelchair lifts, verbal stop announcements by drivers, etc):

Yes       No

Presence of sidewalks to and from bus/train stop? Yes       No

Presence of curb cut ramps on corners of sidewalks? Yes        No

Meet the Family

Sit down with them in the spot of their choice. Thank them very much for their interest in being a host family for your organization. Introduce yourself(ves) and your role(s) to the family and inform them of the information you will gather during the visit and encourage them to ask questions. Tell them that you will be taking notes while they speak.

Family and pet member names: Age Hobbies/Interests

Household – typical daily activities/schedule

Why do they want to be a host family? Any past international experience, diversity experience?

Circle languages spoken by family members:

Spanish      French         Russian          Sign Language

Other:

Discuss organizational expectations of host family:

• Orientation/meetings
• Room and board
• Transportation support
• Cultural support
• Diversity
• Food
• Emergency procedures
• Medical Insurance
• Other support/assistance
• Household adaptations based on participant’s needs
• Background checks

Walk around the inside of the house with the family as they show you the spaces the participant will use.

Bedroom

Location: On main floor         Upstairs            Downstairs

Bedroom set up: Private         Shared with same-sex family member

Approx. open floor space in room (ft x ft):

Size of bed: Twin       Double            Queen

Bed style: Futon style (low to ground)    Full size bed (2-3 feet off ground)

Bathroom

Is bathroom on same floor as bedroom: Yes       No

Bathroom door width is  _____________________________

Approx. open floor space in room (ft x ft): ___________________________

Features:    Bathtub           Shower

Inside House Layout:

Note areas with carpet and thickness: ___________________________________

Note placement and number of steps inside house: _________________________________________________

Presence of handrails: Yes         No

Measure the width of the main access and other internal doorways: bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, etc. (doorway width needed for an average wheelchair is 32 inches)

Is there a computer in the house that the participant will be able to use for email or program work - or space for one to be set up? Yes    No

location: ______________________________________________

Other indoor notes:_____________________________________________

Outside the house:

Note location and number of steps to the front or main access door: ___________________________________

Note location and number of steps to other entrances (back, side, garage): ______________________________

Note the slope (up or down) of driveway or walk way to front door from street: __________________________

Driveway/walkway/pathway surface: ______________________________________

Other outdoor notes:_____________________________________________

Talk about possible adaptions that could be done to prepare for hosting:

• Designate a smoking area
• Participant dietary needs/preferences
• Have shower bench available
• Install a wheelchair ramp
• Remove a door
• Install a handheld shower
• Guide dog presence
• Closed captions on TV
• Borrow a TTY

Other:

Other Comments:

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