Lizzy Cappelli is an alumnus of the NCDE 2024 Access to Exchange Externship. As part of her project, Lizzy created a guide for blind or low vision individuals interested in studying abroad in Spain.
Introduce yourself. Share information on your disability, and your academic/career interests.
Hello, my name is Lizzy Cappelli, I am a recent college graduate, I love to travel, and am also visually impaired. My visual impairment impacts how I navigate and interact with the world. I have light perception in my right eye and 20/250 vision in my left eye. This means I can see about ten feet in front of me and the rest is just colors and shaped. As a college student, I double majored in human service and Spanish with a minor in Women’s studies. As I begin a new chapter in my life I am exploring a variety of career options. The wonderful piece of being a human services major is how versatile it is whether working in the disability field, mental health field, or a completely different area supporting others. Currently, I am the assistant programs facilitator at Castle in the Clouds located in Moultonborough, New Hampshire. In this role, I support both our public and educational programs. Including weekly programs for visitors, field trips, and more. As I look beyond the summer, I am not sure where I will end up, possibly working in the disability field with clients or possibly with students in a school setting.
Describe your international education experience.
For many years, I wished to study abroad, and it took me quite a while to find a program that suited my needs. Eventually, after much research and almost giving up I found the perfect program at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU). SCSU hosts faculty-led short-term study abroad programs. This means that a group of students travels with a professor abroad. I partook in the four-week trip to Salamanca, Spain. I traveled and lived with a group of people I had met before leaving the country. While abroad we lived in a dorm or residencia setting near the main Plaza Mayor. During our first three weeks, we attended classes at El Colegio de Espana which is located in an old convent. Our classes took place from 9 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon. we covered everything from grammar to local culture. During our days we also had two breaks allowing us to connect with other international students or visit local cafes. I often went to café Santagloria to get a coffee and a pastry. By the end of our time in Salamanca the team that worked at the café knew who I was and were always willing to assist me in finding a table or carrying my tray outside. Another interesting aspect of being abroad was how understanding people were of my blindness. This could be seen when trying to locate something and being offered sighted guide. In addition to attending classes, our school also offered evening activities such as cooking and bachata classes. As well as attending an escape room and rock climbing. This was a great way to get to know the city, work on our Spanish, and interact with other students. On other evenings, we would enjoy concerts and a glass of wine in the Plaza Mayor. The Plaza Mayor in Salamanca is gorgeous, created of a sandstone and reaching high into the sky on all sides. At sunset, which was around 10 all the lights turned on. Each night you could hear the applause of tourists and locals as the lights were switched on. During our final week in Spain, we packed everything up and prepared for a road trip to the southern part of Spain. We visited the famous Mosque in Cordoba, then traveled further south to Sevilla which has big wide roads that you can see many horses and carriages drive along. Next, we went to Granada which has the Plaza Espana, and the Alhambra. Lastly, we headed back up north wandering through Toledo and then Madrid where we saw the Prado Museum and El Parque Real. Overall, this was an incredible experience that taught me so much and will always be a fond memory. I am looking forward to the day I get to return to Salamanca.
What was the biggest challenge that you encountered?
I encountered many challenges while studying abroad both related and unrelated to my disability. One of the more challenging issues was solving unexpected issues. Attending a study abroad program is phenomenal, but you are also embarking into a new culture, environment, and often a foreign language. Although I had a strong foundation in the Spanish language I had little practice conversing with locals. During my time abroad one of the laundry machines in our dorm was broken, and I had to ask the residence staff to help me in Spanish. It wasn’t the most elegant conversation, but we were able to understand what one another was saying and the task was completed. I had many experiences like this. Most often in the dining hall, I had to develop a system with the cook where she would tell me all of the food options for the day before carrying my tray through. Since she only spoke Spanish, and this could be a loud and busy environment it took some time to figure out this process and create a system that worked. I think these smaller day-to-day tasks were more challenging because they were not tasks that I could research or had anticipated. Instead, I had to problem-solve by using the language skills I had and those I was developing.
Describe your top three gains from your exchange experience.
I cannot express how much I gained from this experience. One of the biggest areas I grew in was my independence and confidence. In my ability to use the Spanish language and as a visually impaired traveler. My language skills improved by being able to interact with locals and the community when visiting cafes, restaurants, and museums. I improved my Spanish more in those four short weeks than in the many years of classes I took. I also grew as someone with a disability. During the first few days, I could barely navigate from the local Plaza Mayor to my residence. Then, by the end of the program, I was navigating a new city we visited by myself. It showed me how much you can expand your comfort zone and that even the scariest of adventures can be more influential than you could imagine. Another growth from this experience was understanding the culture of Spain. It is quite different from the United States where we define our selves by academics or our careers. In Spain it is about living a fulfilling life, from those around you to spending time on activities you enjoy. This could be seen in the café I went to during our school breaks, the concerts in the plaza in the evening, or just spending time talking with another. There is a sense of calm and tranquility in Spain. People are not rushing from one activity to the next, but rather take the time to be with friends or just live in the moment. It really makes you reflect on how you want to live your life.
Is there anything about your exchange experience that you would have done differently?
I think the only thing I would have done differently was obtain orientation and mobility services. I think this would have made understanding the city of Salamanca much easier. I was able to do this myself through exploration, but it took some time to figure out the route between the residencia and school and to know what was around us compared to having specific mobility training. I may have also figured out to how use to laundry machines in our residencia much faster or known a route to a local laundry mat.
How did your disability impact or not impact your experience? Did you have to request any support, or take any steps to manage your disability while abroad?
My disability significantly impacted my study abroad experience. From the beginning of the process all the way through. Since I am legally blind, I needed a lot of support academically and physically navigating a new space. For me, this meant finding a program willing and able to support my disability. Then working with my home university, the program’s disability office, and the school abroad to discuss what accommodations would be beneficial. This included large print, access to information written on any front board, and extended time on tests and quizzes. Regarding the physical environment, I needed to make sure the program was willing to work with me if I needed assistance learning routes or on any of the short trips we took. SCSU was incredible and our professor was so kind and open to having me on the trip. I met with SCSU a few times before traveling to discuss how my vision would impact the way I traveled and how we could work as a team to make it a great experience. I also contacted El Colegio de Espana to see if they had any visually impaired students previously, which they had. Once abroad the school I attended, El Colegio de Espana, was fantastic. They had large print documents waiting for me on the first day of class and were willing to print a special large print version of our workbook. I also worked closely with my professor to understand the notes she was writing on the board or to have her take pictures of these and textbook pages to share with me electronically. Although it may have not been the most conventional way of accessing materials it worked quite well. It was also interesting to talk with my friends on this trip and share how having a disability impacts your life and the way you travel. I also picked up on some of the accessibility features in Spain including Braille maps at the tourist office, free access to many museums and monuments, and tactile paths along city streets to guide you. Although my disability may have impacted how I accessed and experienced certain aspects of studying abroad it did not prevent me from going or participating in cooking and dance classes. It allowed me to connect with many locals when asking for assistance and so much more.
The Access to Exchange Externship Is a Program of the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange. NCDE is a project of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, designed to increase the participation of people with disabilities in all kinds of international exchanges between the United States and other countries, and is supported in its implementation by Mobility International USA.
