The DRS and the Study Abroad Office at the University of Pittsburgh have a unique relationship.  Can you discuss this relationship?

This relationship began a few years ago, probably two and a half years ago, when a student with a hidden disability came up to the Study Abroad Office to speak with Carol Larson.  He was from one of regional campuses and was going to Spain for the year.  He has a profound reading disability and needed all kinds of technology and software to succeed academically.  Carol came down to the DRS to discuss the process needed to put into the place to have the technology and accommodations set up in Spain .  That is where the relationship began. 

It was a dawn of a new era when we realized that all three offices had a wealth of information to bring the students: the Study Abroad Office, the DRS, and the program provider.  By bringing these entities together and through team management, we could discuss the student and their disability, as well as ensure the best experience possible for each student. 

The key to the successful experience for students is to have a case-by-case approach.  That means that we at the DRS encourage for the students to disclose their disability to the Study Abroad Office advisor.  Once this disclosure happens, we begin to discuss the student, their disability, and their interests programs and countries abroad on a case-by-case basis.  That gives us the opportunity to talk about appropriate placement and what kind of accommodations would be absolutely necessary abroad.  

The relationship works by having the disability specialist coordinate a meeting between themselves, the student, and an advisor from the Study Abroad Office.  When the three parties get together, discussion ensues about the student’s disability or medical condition.  This allows for more honest conversation about the disability, and its potential impact for studying abroad.  I think it’s fair to say that most study abroad professionals do not have an in-depth knowledge of disability-specific information and accommodations, and that most disability specialists do not have a vast knowledge of study abroad programs.

Ultimately, it is the student’s responsibility to disclose their condition and request accommodation if necessary.  However, I do think that the disability specialist working with the student does have a responsibility to encourage the student to disclose their disability and accommodations to the study abroad advisor so that the kinds of conversations that I referenced earlier can occur.  Often, the nature and severity of the disability may be the driving force behind the disclosure.        

If a student chooses not to disclose their disability, there is often nothing we can do.  Sixty to eighty percent of the population we serve at the University of Pittsburgh , the students have hidden disabilities.  By hidden disabilities, we mean psychiatric conditions, learning disabilities, neurological disorders, and traumatic brain injuries and other kinds of cognitive disorders.  There are many, many disabilities that you will never know that a student has. If a student does not want accommodations abroad and chooses not to disclose, there is nothing that anyone needs to do or for which they are responsible.

How does the Americans with Disabilities Act apply to overseas?

The Americans with Disabilities Act does not have jurisdiction outside the United States .  However, many countries do have similar civil rights statutes.  It’s important to also recognize that it is a requirement of the Americans with Disabilities Act for every institution of higher education to have a disability office.  If a study abroad advisor has an opportunity to work with a student with a disability, he or she should know that there is an office on campus that can offer invaluable guidance and information on the disability, the need for accommodations, its impact on a study abroad experience.

Why is pre-planning necessary to get accommodations?

I think that what everyone has to realize is that is the disability specialist’s responsibility when working with the student to recognize what kind of a condition is going to require more intensive management while abroad.  Some students with reading disorders, for example, will be fine; they don’t need to disclose and this relationship does not need to occur.  But, when you have students who are really, seriously ill, whether that be from a major psychiatric disorder or have significant disabilities, then they are going to have to work together in order for them to have a successful experience. 

For example, you cannot have a student with a major psychiatric disorder go abroad without some kind of pre-planning.  If they run out of their medicine, it is a disaster.  If you have someone who has a profound seizure disorder and he or she does not prepare for their medication while abroad, they are going to have to go home because they are going to start having seizures and get hospitalized, and the whole experience will be a debacle.  If you have a student that uses a wheelchair or needs attendant care, and he or she does not appropriately pre-plan for accessible housing – I mean accessible by having the site person go there and determine that there are no stairs and a functioning elevator, that they do have a roll-in shower – these are things that need to be explored.

On the other side of it, I think we all have a responsibility to tell a student with a severe disability that his or her experience while abroad may not be the same as all the other students, and that’s ok.  The experience does not need to be identical.  There are going to be buildings that are not going to be accessible, or what we call ADA compliant.  They are not going to be able to go everywhere that everyone does, but when we work together as a team, when all three entities (DRS, SAO and program provider) come together to support the student.  That is how we can make more students with disabilities avail themselves to this experience. 

How should other universities, or smaller schools, educate themselves on supporting students with disabilities who want to study abroad?  

I know that in the disability community, we have an open-door policy of communication among service providers.  I would encourage a disability person to contact a larger disability office for information about how a student with a particular disability may or may not experience a study abroad event.  I guess that the same is true for a study abroad office; if you are working at a smaller institution and you want information or details on how someone with a certain disability studied abroad in the past, how it went.  Use the resources that exist among other professionals in the community.