Best Practices Workshop:
Disability Issues and Off-Campus Study

Resources

Specific to off-campus study

Access Abroad
The University of Minnesota's off-campus study office has put together a very rich web site on off-campus study for students with all types of disabilities. It includes advice for students, suggestions for off-campus study directors (including advising guidelines), case studies, summaries of services available to students overseas, and even a quiz testing your knowledge of these issues

Do-It's Faculty Room
The University of Washington's office for disabilities services has a substantial set of resources for faculty on a variety of disability issues. The section on international programs includes a case study, some useful answers, and a page of other links. It states quite definitively that "qualified students with disabilities must be provided with equal access to international travel and study opportunities."

Transitions Abroad
A print and on-line magazine about off-campus study has put together a good collection of resources on disabilities and off-campus study, including a list of programs that invite students with disabilities to apply and articles written by students who have gone abroad.

Advocacy organizations

Mobility International USA
Mobility International is probably the leading resource and advocate for helping people with disabilities to travel and work internationally. It runs international programs, organizes conferences, helps people find exchange programs and scholarship funds, produces publications, and does training. The site is very helpful indeed. MIUSA has a peer-to-peer network to help connect students with disabilities with others who have traveled abroad. They also have a directory of disability organizations worldwide and publications.

Disabled Peoples' International
Disabled Peoples' International is a network of national organizations or assemblies of disabled people, established to promote human rights of disabled people through full participation, equalization of opportunity and development. It sponsors events and produces publications. Nothing, however, specifically relates to study abroad.

AHEAD (Association for Higher Education and Disability)
AHEAD has a special interest group for international programs. It focuses mainly on researching and advocating for people with disabilities in other countries--mainly Canada and Australia.

Information

Independent Living Institute: Study and Work Abroad for All
The site includes information about study and training at universities in Europe, North America and other parts of the world. It provides information about accessibility, adapted housing, transportation or personal assistance in daily living. The site includes information on disabilities services in sixteen countries as well as individual universities in twenty-nine countries. It is produced by a Swedish organization.

HEAG
The HEAG database is a guide to accessibility services at higher education institutions across Europe. It provides a coherent guide with information regarding disability support services in seventeen European countries, which may help students and their teachers make decisions about possibilities for study programs and exchange activities. The HEAG database lets you search for specialist services and accessibility support for students with disabilities in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and UK. Most of the links are to national-level organizations rather than directly to higher education institutions.

Access Able Travel Source
The site contains a variety of resources (of evidently mixed quality) for disabled and "mature" travelers. It has travel tips, a list of travel agents who work with disabled travelers, and travelers' stories. There is also a substantial database of accessible hotels, restaurants, etc., around the world--with data provided by travelers and businesses.

Travel Tips for Hearing Impaired People
Information and resources on travel for hearing impaired people.

MedlinePlus
The National Institutes of Health maintains this huge database of information on conditions, diseases, and wellness, as well as information on drugs and a dictionary. This could be a useful tool for faculty dealing with a student's condition.