In 2008, students with intellectual disabilities scored a victory in achieving access to higher education following the reauthorization of the Higher Education Opportunities Act (HEOA). The new law made it possible to receive federal financial aid for those wishing to attend an approved Comprehensive Transition Program (CTP). A CTP is a program in which students with intellectual disabilities build their confidence, independence and career readiness by participating in college alongside their nondisabled peers.
Since that time, there has been a flowering of CTPs across the country spurred on by federal grants and interest from students and their families.
Opportunities like the University Participant (UP) program, directed by Doctor Kelly Kelley at Western Carolina University allow students to take classes with their nondisabled peers. They live in the dorms, participate in extracurricular activities, build a greater sense of self-confidence, and they study abroad.
Dr. Kelley organized a short-term exchange opportunity for her students to visit the United Kingdom in order to learn about life for people with intellectual disabilities in London and Dublin. Journal articles discussing her experiences offer examples of best practices that could be applied in any program. MIUSA has also had opportunities to host international rights leaders with intellectual disabilities on WILD and our Empower Partnerships for Inclusive Communities program. Access articles describing Doctor Kelley’s UK exchange and MIUSA’s trainings in the related links section.
Consider students with ID for all of your college’s programs?
Gone are the days where we expected students to participate in the traditional semester or year abroad. The majority of international exchanges are short-term experiences lasting only a few weeks. Some are organized as study tours, where students learn about an aspect of life in another country. In other cases, they are opportunities for students to experience what they have read in their textbooks through volunteering or interning. In all cases, the focus of an exchange is the international experience rather than academics.
What do students with ID get out of international exchange experiences?
People with ID basically benefit in the same way as students without ID. They build self-confidence, learn how to navigate an unfamiliar world, become comfortable working with foreign currency, and explore a culture that is different from their own.
“In my personal life, my experiences abroad have challenged me to be more social, and they’ve given me the opportunity to listen to other people,, their opinions… experiences, and they have helped me to have more tools to be a better self advocate and activist.”
– Maria Camila Lozano Ruiz, rights activist with an intellectual disability from Colombia.
Personal Assistant
Successfully including someone with intellectual disabilities on an exchange program may simply be a matter of accommodating their personal assistant and making sure all program materials are in plain language. Have a conversation with the individual about what helps them succeed at home, and what they will need abroad. Refer to our resources on advising, as well as our discussion on strategies for including people with ID abroad.
In the case of Dr. Kelley’s trip to the UK with her UP students, the work of providing assistance got divided between nondisabled participants, referred to as “natural supports.” They were made aware that they would be expected to help out when needed, and that they would be sharing that responsibility with other natural supports.
If you take Dr. Kelley’s approach of making sure that students are aware of what is expected, it can avoid anyone feeling like they have too much responsibility towards their disabled peers. Your participants with disabilities don’t want to feel like they’re inconveniencing others either. Clear communication will save everyone from an uncomfortable situation.
Program Manager of MIUSA’s Women’s Institute on Leadership and Disability (WILD), Susan Dunn, has observed how people with intellectual disabilities participate in human rights conferences and wanted to make sure they also had the opportunity to join WILD.
“In our program, inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities is critical in terms of directly building their capacity as disability rights leaders, but it also has a profound impact on everyone involved. Many of the other participants may have never had the chance before to work alongside a person with an intellectual disability, to learn from them directly about their needs, challenges, and dreams, and to see them take their rightful place as leaders. We hope to see more people with intellectual disabilities participating in all programs, as self-advocates and as leaders, and participating fully in all aspects of community life.”
– Susan Dunn.
When Camila applied to WILD and was selected as a delegate for the program. MIUSA paid for her PA to join her. Susan explains that having a PA there to support someone with an intellectual disability means they get to speak for themselves. The PA supported Camila by accompanying her during each activity, assisting her to understand what was going on by organizing information into visual and/or spatial diagrams, and converting written documents into plain language. In this manner, she was fully included in all activities and able to engage as much as she chose.
“In MIUSA I was the first woman with intellectual disability to participate. This was important because it allowed us to learn from each other, both for me on how to interact with a group of various diverse women, while at the same time they had to question their ideas about intellectual disability.”
– Maria Camila Lozano Ruiz.
Consider reaching out to the CTP on your campus and the office for students with disabilities to seek out and recruit interested students with intellectual disabilities for your international exchange programs. They won’t apply if they don’t know what’s out there. Work with the CTP to understand what supports might be necessary for each applicant. Consider paying for a personal assistant. People with ID can have other disabilities as well, and the office for students with disabilities can also work to accommodate any other requirements that might emerge.
ThinkCollege is a leader in postsecondary education for students with intellectual disabilities and they have a directory of CTPs in the United States and Canada.
For more reading on students with intellectual disabilities, take a look at our other resources under the table of contents and Dr. Kelley’s Journal articles under the related links.
Many thanks to Dr. Kelly Kelley of the Western Carolina University Participant (UP) Program, Susan Dunn, WILD Program Manager in our friends at AUCD for there excellent feedback on this article.
