Increasing Access to Study Abroad for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students

1. Increasing Access to Study Abroad for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students Please be respectful of your colleagues by silencing your phone. If you need to answer a call, please go to the hallway.

2. Conference Inclusion Statement We ask you to join us in creating a culture that reflects… Access and Inclusion and Civility and Respect …this week and in all aspects of our organization.

3. Presenters • Justin Harford, Mobility International USA • Michelle Morris, Meridian International • Becca AbuRakia-Einhorn, Gallaudet University

4. Types of access for D/HH people • Sign language interpreters • Captioning • Cart • Speech transliteration • Q signed transliteration • Certified Deaf Interpreter (CDI) • Pro Tactile sign language

5. Contract Specifications The Contract Should Specify • Where/when the interpreter will interpret • What travel expenses interpreter will cover • What travel expenses employer will cover • Remuneration that the interpreter will receive

6. Considerations in deciding on the number of hours in the number of interpreters • Lecture/discussion time versus passive travel time. • Will there be a chance for one interpreter to take breaks every 20 minutes without the need for a second interpreter? • Will student want interpreter for social/informal interactions?

7. Other considerations • Social time in the program • Recommendable for student to learn local sign language • Finding ASL interpreters and interpreters of other sign languages abroad

8. Designing with PWDs • Representation Matters • Redefining Reasonable Accommodation • Expectations of Service Providers while Abroad • Tapping into local resources/communities • Technology and Access • Funding Support

9. Nothing About Us, Without US • Tapping into community partners (OPWD) • Leveraging Alumni as peer mentors • Collaborating with DA Faculty/Staff • Transnational community partners

10. What is DDBDDHHLD? DEAF Blind Disabled Hard of Hearing Late-Deafened Signing Cued-Speech Non-Signing Oral Multi-Lingual Across the Spectrum

11. ‘Reasonable Accommodation’ • Does the participant have any recommendations for care/assistance? • Does the host country have any policies and/or institutions that can provide support? • And where can one find them? • What technology is available that can be utilized? • What are the expectations of service providers in the international context? • What are the expectations of the leaders/cohorts in the program? • How can we fund/support accommodations abroad? COMMUNICATION CULTURE ACCESSIBILITY

12. Managing Expectations Flexibility is non-negotiable. Patience is key. Adaptation is inevitable.

13. SERVICE PROVIDER CLASS/COHORT Contracts must specify flexibility in the following areas: • Roles • Schedule (Daily) • Scope of responsibility • Desired characteristics: • Adaptivity • Flexibility • Willingness to do “more” Pre-Departure intra-group training: • Get group comfortable with differences. • Allow participant to communicate needs • Train on how to apply intercultural communication practices to cohort

14. Planning Ahead Host Country Resources • U.S. Embassies/Consulates • Sister Schools • DA Organizations • Alumni (U.S. Institutions graduates) • Expats • Multilingual Interpretation agencies • DA Institutions Technology and Access • Social Networking groups • Video Relay services • Mobile Applications • Messenger Apps Funding • Include support funding in all grant based travel • Identify if host institutions will cover costs • Institutional cost-sharing • Mutually beneficial agreements with support providers (e.g. free travel, room & board, per diem) • Informal support at little to no cost.

15. Programmatic Example U.S.-Indonesia Deaf Youth Leadership Cultural Exchange Program

17. Advising from a “whole student” perspective • Students with disabilities may come into your office with a “I’ll take what I can get” attitude • Avoid your biases (we often see disability first) • Appreciative Inquiry Advising • “A goals-oriented strategy that builds on the strengths of each individual student” (IFSA) • Where do you want to go? Why? What’s your major? • Start with where students want to go (move to accessible programs if nothing else available) • “Challenge by Choice”

18. Advising from a “strengths” Perspective • Recognizing all students benefit from being in a diverse environment • Benefits of shared identity • Example: Deaf individuals find each other all over the world (built in support network) • Accustomed to being flexible • Experience with feeling “out of place” (culture shock) • Experience advocating for their needs in different environments • Embrace a culture of “yes and”

19. 10 Step Approach to Encouraging Disclosure and Building Trust (MIUSA) • Include welcoming language and images or stories of alumni with disabilities on your website and mention disability in your non-discrimination and diversity statements, so a person feels safe to disclose. • Train recruitment and advising staff and volunteers on how to respond to inquiries about disability policy and how to use appropriate and respectful language. • Use an advising checklist for people to mark what they want to discuss, including diverse identity topics, such as disability. Listen to concerns and respond with encouragement and a "can do" attitude to find out more if you do not know how to answer some questions.

20. 10 Step Approach to Encouraging Disclosure and Building Trust (MIUSA) • Put a confidential medical history form online to be completed by every accepted participant and reduce the number of questions that they must answer. • Explain why it might be beneficial to disclose, such as having someone in-country that will know about any possible complications in an emergency situation, finding out about support available on the program, and increasing the understanding among program staff of questions they have about behavior or routine. • Share how you will use the information about medical and disability-related history (i.e. who is going to see the information, why, and what restrictions there are on use of the information.) • Provide how to request reasonable accommodations and the process in determining what can be arranged – you post this in many different places such as your website, welcome letter for accepted students, pre-departure materials, medical and housing forms, and in orientation sessions.

21. 10 Step Approach to Encouraging Disclosure and Building Trust (MIUSA) • Invite disability and counseling presenters to orientations and other workshops you have for all US and international exchange participants, so they are aware of resources. • Offer disability-related scholarships where as part of the awards, students must meet once before, during and after the experience to talk about their expectations and experiences. • Revise how and where you ask for information since someone may not self-identify as a person with a disability or they may not see their disability as a medical or health issue. Also if it's a study abroad program, students may not need academic accommodations, but if you ask them what they use daily at home, they may have a need to disclose on a housing form. See more: https://www.miusa.org/resource/tipsheet/buildingtrust

22. Collaboration with third party providers • Advisors must be the advocates • Vet your providers to see what their disability policies are up front • Collaborate with your program providers (ask to cover and share cost of accommodations) • Expect that you will have students with disabilities (build your programs/policies this way!) • Setup emergency or built-in funds at your universities for accomodations

23. Gallaudet University Site Visit Accommodation Checklist (deaf/deafblind/hoh) *Click here to download a screen reader accessible version of the form *Adapted from the University of Minnesota Access Abroad: Student Accommodation Request Form

24. Student Expert on their needs and how they can best be accommodated Who is the expert? Office of Students with Disabilities Expert on requesting and managing accommodations (US) Education Abroad Office Expert on translation to international locales AND working with partners overseas

25. Considerations • Physical Environment • The Information Environment (Classroom, Museum visits, etc.) • The Program/Policy Environment • Attitudinal Environment

26. Scenarios No right or wrong answers We’re all learning how to better serve students with disabilities Share your knowledge with your group What would you do? What steps would you take? We all have different resources at our disposal Some of us work for large universities, some of us work for small colleges. Some of us work for public institutions, others private. It’s important to acknowledge that our access to resources (and knowledge) informs how we can help our students.

27. Scenarios Scenario 1: A deaf student who primarily uses American Sign Language (and interpreters in the classroom in the US) comes to your university’s study abroad office to ask about programs they would be able to participate in. The study abroad advisor contacts you to ask for advice about how to work with this student. Scenario 2: You work at a private liberal arts college. One of your university’s study abroad advisors comes to you to tell you that a deaf student would like to go on an institution-led faculty study abroad program. They want to know what they should say to the student and what the university should provide in terms of accommodations. Scenario 3: You work for the office of students with disabilities for a large third-party study abroad provider (a non profit organization, but not a university). An advisor from your organization says they have a deaf student interested in a program in Asia, but they think England (as a country) is a more accessible option. They want to know if they can say that to the student and what else they need to consider for advising.

28. Other Resources • Gallaudet University Education Abroad • MIUSA • NAFSA: Students with Disabilities • University of Minnesota Access Abroad • Diversity Abroad • Abroad with Disabilities • National Deaf Center • NACUA Notes • World Association of Sign Language Interpreters • World Federation of the Deaf

29. Session Evaluation

30. Session Evaluation Please see session moderator for paper evaluation form or complete the evaluation online.