[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: The Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs, also known as ECA, at the US Department of State,
presents the Disability and International Exchange Programs
Historical Timeline.
In 1955, the first known ECA program participant
with a disability, Fulbright student Davis Duty,
who is blind, studies in the United Kingdom.
Duty pauses for a picture with Senator J William Fulbright.
From 1970 to 1975, Allen Reich, who is paraplegic,
serves as ECA's Deputy Assistant Secretary.
He later founded the National Organization on Disability.
In 1983, ECA sponsors its first disability-related professional
exchange program between the United States and Germany.
In 1985, ECA sponsors its first disability-related youth
exchange program with the United States and the United Kingdom.
The exchange takes place in Eugene, Oregon
with a grant to Mobility International USA.
From 1985 to present, ECA and the Fulbright Commission
in Italy offer Fulbright grants in Deaf Studies
for Italian students to study at Gallaudet University
in Washington, DC.
In 1993, the East Asia Employment and Education
Exchange Program brings young professionals
with disabilities to the United States
from various East Asian countries
to learn about best work practices.
In 1994, the Future Leaders Exchange Program,
FLEX for short, begins recruiting students
with disabilities from Eurasia.
In 1995, the first disability-related
International Visitor Leadership program, also known as IVLP,
sends a group from Oaxaca, Mexico to the United States
to learn about disability rights.
Also in 1995, ECA launches the National Clearinghouse
on Disability and Exchange to increase the participation
of people with disabilities in international exchange
programs.
ECA awards a grant annually to Mobility International USA
to administer it.
In 1996, ECA awards $1.3 million to support the Paralympic
Games in Atlanta, Georgia.
In 1998, the National Clearinghouse
on Disability and Exchange convenes the Joining Hands
Conference to foster national dialogue
between the disability and international exchange
communities.
From 1999 to 2001, ECA awards $1.5 million
to support various components of the Special Olympics World
Summer Games in North Carolina in 1999
and the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Alaska in 2001.
In 2002, SportsUnited awards a sports grant
to Georgia State University to conduct the first board
and disability program abroad.
It takes place in Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia,
and Turkey.
In 2003, Mary Tickel, a Benjamin A Gilman International
Scholarship recipient with cerebral palsy,
studies in Wales.
Since its inception in 2001, the Gilman program
has included grantees with disabilities.
In 2005, the National Clearinghouse
on Disability and Exchange publishes Survival Strategies
for Going Abroad, A Guide for People with Disabilities
by Laura Hershey.
In 2006, the Youth Exchange and Study,
or YES program, which recruits students
from countries with significant Muslim populations,
begins including students with disabilities.
In 2006, Open Doors, funded by ECA,
begins collecting data on US students
with disabilities who study abroad.
In 2006, the first English Access Microscholarship program
to include students with disabilities
takes place in Libya.
Access continues to offer English courses to students
with disabilities globally.
In 2009, the National Clearinghouse
on Disability and Exchange produces a special edition
of the A World Awaits You journal, also known as AWAY.
This edition highlights a selection of ECA's grantees
with disabilities.
In 2012, DanceMotion USA facilitates dance workshops
with disabled youth during the Trey McIntyre Project tour
of Vietnam and South Korea.
In 2013, the EMPOWER program connects disability leaders
from over 20 countries through a series
of exchanges aimed at promoting inclusive communities.
Also in 2013, a Museums Connect program called emPOWER Parents,
links Queens Museum in New York with the ICO Museum in Madrid,
Spain to design cross-cultural programs that empower parents
of children with autism.
In the summer of 2014, Stella Young,
a renowned Australian comedian, journalist,
and disability rights advocate, travels
throughout the United States on an IVLP
to learn about disability rights.
Stella Young passed away in December 2014,
but her legacy continues to inspire.
In 2014, Mandela Washington Fellow
for Young African Leaders, Aarthi Burtony, who is blind,
advocates for rights with persons with disabilities
in Mauritius by developing a workshop on technology
and accessibility.
In December, 2014, ECA and the National Clearinghouse
on Disability and Exchange conducts a day-long training
workshop ECA staff on disability and exchange program
management.
In 2015, a delegation of seven Mongolian disability rights
advocates, including the Minister of Population
and Development and Members of Parliament,
visit the United States on a Professional Fellows
On-Demand program to learn about the Americans
with Disabilities Act.
In May 2015, 60 foreign Fulbright students
travel to Berkeley, California to explore disability rights
by participating in a Fulbright enrichment seminar entitled
US Disability Rights, 25 Years of the Americans
with Disabilities Act and Beyond.
And in July 2015, ECA is proud to celebrate
the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Americans
with Disabilities Act of 1990.
ECA is committed to including people
with disabilities as exchange program participants
and to advancing disability rights in the United States
and abroad.
Check out exchanges.state.gov to find an international exchange
program for you.
Join our conversation on social media with #ADA25.
Follow us on Twitter @ECAatState,
like our Facebook page, ExchangeProgramsatState,
and check out pictures of our programs
on Instagram @ExchangeOurWorld.
Thanks for being a part of ECA's International Exchange Program
community.