This is one of those moments where I just have to really thank my parents for choosing to get me cochlear implants and teaching me to hear and speak utilizing the AV approach.  Moreover, I have to also thank them for teaching me while growing up that when I ask for accommodations, I should ask only for what I need so that I could learn to be as independent as possible, not ask the government to spend so much money on me and contribute to society instead, and of course, have less stress battling for accommodations.

Yesterday, I learned from a grad school in the UK that international students are required to pay for the equipment and disability services used in school, such as interpreters, because the British government will not fund international students but will fund only residents of the UK.  That does not mean that international students can’t use the services at all, such as interpreters and CART.  International students just have to pay for them out of their own pockets.

I wasn’t overly concerned because as I said, I’m so grateful that I’m able to hear and to speak thanks to the choices that my parents made and, of course, as always, I cannot be thankful enough for the technology of cochlear implants too. I never needed a large amount of accommodations at my current college. I’ve rarely used assistive listening devices, and I never had problems getting good notes from students and even from professors who usually have the most phenomenal notes . I used CART only in two classes ONLY because I had professors who were difficult to understand and they did not have any notes and the students didn’t even take notes!  Thus, using CART is a VERY LAST resort for me. I’ve done very well in the past four years with very minimal to no struggles, and I’ve made all A’s and only two B’s.  So, as long as I have professors who articulate well and have good notes to provide, and students who take good notes, I should not have any problems.

However, I understand that in the UK, many professors will have thick accents as they will be either British or a foreigner, and I may struggle to understand them during the first few weeks; however, I will learn to understand them and, overtime, I will understand them just as well as any other people.  I’ve had quite a few professors who are foreigners with thick accents in the past four years, and I did struggle at the beginning of the semester to understand them, but once my ears were accustomed to the foreign accents, I was able to understand them without issues for the rest of the semester.  Also, all of them were very nice about providing extra help outside of class if I needed any.  So, I hope that the experiences will be the same at the school where I will be attending this fall.

I understand that some may think that I should fight to ensure I can get as much accommodations as I can, but, as I said, I’m a believer in obtaining ONLY what I need. Furthermore, it’s totally understandable for the government not to provide the funds for international students. Money doesn’t fall from the sky and, thus, they only have so much to provide the services to the UK citizens first. UK citizens deserve priority because it’s their country, and they’re paying a whole lot more taxes than the international students. It’s like the US. US citizens who attend universities in their own country should definitely have priority for getting services. If the government disperses the funds to everyone, then the quality of the services could be reduced. Plus, I’m not paying as much taxes to the government as the UK citizens/legal residences are as I would be only be paying the sales tax while living in the UK.

Also, I was already aware that I may not get many accommodations while studying in the UK because, from what I’ve heard from quite a few friends, many people living in other countries are not as fortunate as those living in the US when it comes to accommodating people with disabilities. I have a friend in Germany who has a son with bilateral implants, and my friend said that there is no such a thing as an IEP or 504 plan in Germany. A friend of mine in Greece who is in college always struggles to obtain accommodations and often times, she does not get any!

At the end of the day, I could certainly choose to stay in my own country so that I can get as many accommodations as I want, but I’m just grateful that I have CHOICES thanks to how my parents raised me.  That was my parents’ premier goal – to give me endless opportunities in my life, and being able to go to grad school out of the country where I will be able to get only limited accommodations is just priceless!