Disability rights movements are at different stages in different countries and parts of the world. Although this is changing, in many countries, students with disabilities if they receive education are most often educated in segregated schools among other students with similar disabilities – schools for students who are deaf, blind, with mobility disabilities, cerebral palsy, etc. Laws and their implementation vary widely throughout the regions of the world. For information about disability laws in other countries, visit DREDF’s Directory of National Disability Non-Discrimination Laws or library documents at the Independent Living Institute.

Although it is important and necessary to show respect for the ideas and beliefs of the host country, U.S.-based international exchange programs have legal as well as ethical commitments to ensure that all exchange participants have equal opportunities to participate. Overseas partners of U.S.-based exchange organizations must fully comprehend  the organization’s clear commitment to the human and civil rights of all students with disabilities – those from the United States and those in the host country.

Understanding Disability Rights Models

Medical vs. Human Rights Model

• The medical model defines disability as a health condition or disease, to be addressed by doctors and rehabilitation specialists who pursue treatments and cures for disabling conditions. The focus is on changing disabled people so they can perform more efficiently in a society that has been constructed by and according to non-disabled people.
• The human rights model focuses on the role of society in gaining equality for all its citizens, including people with disabilities. The focus shifts from fixing individuals to eliminating socially constructed barriers that prevent people with disabilities from participating fully in their communities. Equality for people with disabilities is seen in the same light as equality for other minority communities.

Working Across Cultures: Disability Culture in Different Countries

Cultural differences in concepts like disability, independence, confidentiality, respect for authority and personal rights may affect a person's approach to disability accommodation.

Language and terminology
It may be difficult to explain a disability, especially a non-apparent disability, in the language or cultural context of the host country, and the explanation may not receive the kind of response you expect. Exchange participants should learn how to explain their disability in the local language, and understand that terminology such as “accommodations” or “rights” may be different.

• Disability-specific vocabulary
  There may be no precise word in the host country’s language for a participant’s disability, or the disability may not be one that is easily accepted as legitimate in the host country.
• Perceptions of independence
  In some cultures, independence may include relying on family, friends, the community or the aid of strangers – utilizing informal human support, which exchange participants from the United States may experience as a less self-directed approach. Culturally, it is common for family members to provide  services such as a sighted guide for a sibling who is blind, or a cousin may assist with note-taking in classes, as opposed to assistive technology like a white cane or Braille machine that may be more common in the U.S. Young, unmarried women with disabilities may be accompanied by an elder brother or uncle for cultural or religious reasons in some countries.
• Understanding how a disability may be viewed by a given culture
  Some types of disabilities may not be easily accepted as legitimate in the host country. In some communities, people with visible disabilities are deterred from participating in the life of the community by social, institutional and infrastructural restrictions while other disabilities may be regarded as a blessing or gift (for example: in some cultures, people with epilepsy are considered gifted because they are believed to communicate with ancestors during seizures, other cultures may consider people who are blind more religiously affiliated or divined).
• Difference in approach to accommodations
  Many overseas universities in the non-Western world do not have an office of disability services or a formal procedure for requesting disability-related accommodations. Accommodations are arranged through community services, person-to-person, or by family members versus through legal processes according to law.

Cultural Models of Providing Accommodations

Frequently, it is underlying cultural differences, as well as individual and contextual responses, that impact the ways in which a student with a disability is accommodated or generally treated. Insight into cultural differences that shape expectations and approaches regarding disability issues can be useful for exchange organizations when working with overseas partners and preparing exchange participants for host cultures. In many Latin American, African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries, disability-related accommodations for international exchange programs are commonly arranged through informal social networks, personal discussions with professors or staff, or host family members.

Approaches to providing accommodations

• Procedural
  Doing what is required by rules or law  (U.S. approach)
• Personal
  Arranged person to person through direct conversations about what is needed and why
• Community
  In some cultures it is the responsibility of the student’s friends and family

Recruiting People with Disabilities

• Talk with parents or family members
• Seek support from other disabled leaders in the community
• Network with a sibling without a disability who has benefited from a similar experience. Relate the benefits the non-disabled sibling has experienced to a sibling with a disability
• Communicate to all staff and volunteers in an organization any established disability-inclusive or diversity policies
• Identify contacts at organizations that are led by and work with people with disabilities
• Develop contacts with special education and adaptive physical education teachers and physical therapists working with disabled youth
• Consider linking families, including siblings and other respected members, with families of returnees, since family support can make or break a participant’s chances of going on exchange.