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YOU ARE AN ENTHUSIASTIC STUDENT of the writer James Joyce, eager to study at Trinity College in his beloved Dublin, a picturesque Irish city with many narrow, crowded, cobblestone streets. But you use a wheelchair. Is your dream realistic?
You have long yearned to study in England. The University of Sunderland, in the heart of England's buzzing Northeast, beckons. But you are blind. Is it realistic to think you will be able to travel there by yourself and keep up with the coursework?
You struggle with bipolar disorder, dealing with dramatic mood swings and marked changes in energy and behavior. Can you handle the challenges of this mental health problem while taking classes in Buenos Aires, Argentina?
Yes, yes, and yes.
One of the most encouraging trends in recent years is the increasing number of students with disabilities who have been able to take advantage of education abroad opportunities. Their experiences overseas-almost always life-enhancing and sometimes transforming-are made possible through their courage and realism, and the leadership, encouragement, and assistance of many.
Leadership and Teamwork
A pioneer group in the field is Mobility International USA (MIUSA), now in its 26th year. The organization was cofounded by Barbara Williams and Susan Sygall, who serves as its CEO. Sygall, who uses a wheelchair, has had a personal and professional commitment to disability rights and women's issues for more than 25 years. The organization's Web site is a rich source of information. In underscoring that the communities of international education and disability need to work together, Michele Scheib, project specialist of MIUSA's National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange, echoes a dieme repeated by many who are active in helping students with disabilities to study abroad, a theme vividly elaborated in the film Making It Happen, Study Abroad for Students with Disabilities. The documentary was written and produced by Jeff Whitehead and Carol Larson, University of Pittsburgh, and shown this past May to the International Education for Persons with Disabilities Specific Interest Group (IEPD SIG) during NAFSA's annual conference, in conjunction with MIUSA and the affiliates who sponsored it. The film was also shown at the July meeting of the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD), the professional group for disability service providers. Larson, assistant director of...