Why are students with disabilities missing out on an international experience?

By Lorraine Gallagher, Information & Training Officer, Association for Higher Education Access and Disability (AHEAD), Ireland.Every year thousands of students criss-cross the globe as part of international exchange programmes, but only a tiny percentage of them are students with disabilities. Within the Irish context, less than 1% of students with disabilities engage in student exchange programmes. Why is this? As part of my job at AHEAD, I have engaged with lots of students with disabilities on this issue and the overriding factor is fear, fuelled by a lack of information. “If I study abroad what support will I get? What if things go wrong?”
The reality is, many students with disabilities have additional support needs which they fear won’t be met in the host institution or country, so in the end, the majority are afraid to take the risk to participate in international study programmes. While international officers are open and committed to this cohort of students, a study carried out by Adele Browne, of the EAIE Special Interest Group, Access & Inclusion (ACCESS) indicated that 75% of international officers in the UK had little or no experience of working with students with disabilities. With so few students with disabilities travelling, it stands to reason that people don’t know what to do when it comes to supporting them. Read more...