Introduction

Mobility International USA’s 2004 survey of college-level study abroad programs indicated that students with psychiatric and learning disabilities and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder are more likely to study abroad than students with any other types of disabilities. The survey revealed that students with psychiatric, learning, attention and health related disabilities make up 89% of all students with disabilities that study abroad. What the survey did not reveal is: How effectively are students with these types and other non-apparent disabilities being served in the overseas programs?

This issue of the A World Awaits You (AWAY) journal focuses on finding answers to these questions:

• What are education abroad programs doing to ensure that students with non-apparent disabilities are receiving accommodations or services they need abroad?
• How do alumni of international exchange programs who have non-apparent disabilities (see the blue box at the end for lists of the different types of disabilities) feel about their experiences abroad?
• What are the perspectives surrounding the issue of disclosure of disability, and requesting disability-related accommodations on study abroad programs?
• How do people with different disabilities address learning a foreign language?
• In what ways do differences in environment, culture, medical and educational systems in other countries impact the participation of people with these types of disabilities?
• What advice do students, parents, disability providers, and study abroad staff have to offer?

 

Photo Caption: Students with non-apparent disabilities may blend in with the other exchange participants when abroad, but their perspectives and needs should not be invisible.

Twenty people with non-apparent disabilities from the United States were interviewed for this journal, all of who had participated in high school and/or college study or volunteer abroad programs. Parents, exchange providers, and disability service staff also added their insights. This AWAY issue describes only the experiences of those individuals who we interviewed, so some non-apparent disabilities, such as chronic fatigue syndrome or schizophrenia, are not specifically or fully addressed. However, some of the strategies shared by the interviewees are useful for people with a wide range of conditions and disabilities.

This issue’s focus is on the intersection of non-apparent disability perspectives and the activity of participating in international exchange programs, since very little has been written on this topic.

What readers will also not find in this journal is a full description of each disability mentioned and resources on how to find an international exchange program. This issue’s focus is on the intersection of non-apparent disability perspectives and the activity of participating in international exchange programs, since very little has been written on this topic. Links to disability-specific and exchange resources are available from the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange (NCDE) and in the blue box below. NCDE is a cross-disability organization, so information about physical, vision or other types of disabilities can be found in other issues of the AWAY journal.

Each person who we interviewed had found ways to work through challenges, make adaptations and access the wonders of international exchange programs. Most of the interviewees had not had the benefit of advice from alumni with similar disabilities, to assist them to prepare for international travel.  They were therefore eager to share their own experiences, lessons learned and recommendations with the readers of this journal. Readers can find a summary at the end of each article that provides an overview of their advice.

It is our intention that this AWAY journal will make exchange-related issues and strategies of people with non-apparent disabilities more included in future study and volunteer abroad programs, and in the minds of young adults with these disabilities who have interest in exploring the world.

We invite readers to also send comments and advice based on their own experiences to the AWAY Editor at clearinghouse@miusa.org. Your comments may be published online in a “Reader’s Comments” section of the NCDE website.