The Vanderbilt Consortium LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities) (VCL) Program prepares graduate-level health and education professionals to assume leadership roles to serve children with neurodevelopmental and related disabilities. VCL trainees from East Tennessee State University (ETSU) recently had an opportunity to take their training all the way to Cambodia as part of an international interprofessional trip with ETSU VCL faculty.
This trip to Cambodia was developed after a successful trip to Vietnam the year before, when special education faculty took special education teacher candidates and speech-language pathology students to a school that served students with extensive support needs.
“For the past several years, Julie Sears, Ph.D., the Johnson City VCL program coordinator, and other VCL faculty have provided leadership in developing interprofessional group projects for the LEND long-term trainees in Nashville and Johnson City that have had international reach,” said Evon Batey Lee, Ph.D., VCL program director. “These have included prior projects in South Africa and Vietnam. The projects have provided both resources to children with disabilities and their families and opportunities to expand the trainees’ knowledge and perspectives.”
“There were several reasons why we created the ETSU study abroad in Cambodia,” said Sears. “First, it is important for our graduate and undergraduate students to experience other cultures and experience other educational settings. Additionally, after working with the National Institute of Special Education (NISE) and Disability Support International (DSI) on our LEND International Interprofessional training project, we wanted to see the amazing things that are happening in the schools and to better understand the challenges within Cambodia’s special education system.”
Sears and fellow ETSU faculty members Pamela Mims, Ph.D. (professor of Special Education), and Lisa Dunkley, Ph.D. (associate professor of Rehabilitative Sciences), took three undergraduate students and two LEND trainee graduate students on this trip. The faculty team coordinated with three schools for students with disabilities – Rabbit School, Hands of Hope, and Disability Development Services Program – to allow the group to drop in and observe in special education classrooms. The two LEND trainees also had the opportunity to present to local educators and parents. Carter Cook, a graduate student working toward a master’s degree in counseling, presented on “Understanding Burnout and Self-Care.” Kayla Chambers, a graduate student studying clinical nutrition, spoke on “Nutrition and Mealtimes.”
“The working relationship with the teachers and students in Cambodia was wonderful! Truly one of the most impactful parts of the trips,” said Chambers. “The teachers had great questions and were very welcoming to us. The students were also very welcoming. When we would go observe in classrooms, they often gave a smile and said hello, even though we were strangers to them. I never felt unwelcomed by the teachers or students.”
The group also participated in local cultural experiences by going to Angkor Wat, visiting an elephant preserve, and seeing traditional Apsara dancing.
Ahead of the trip, the trainees prepared by reading books, reviewing the limited research available, and engaging in other mediums to learn about Cambodian culture.
“We met with our mentoring agency, Disability Support International (DSI), who has an in-country coordinator, prior to our departure to learn more about the schools, the culture, and basic Khmer words,” said Sears. “We often had debriefings to reflect on what we were experiencing and seeing in the schools and community to help process. Lisa Dunkley helped provide therapeutic supports throughout the session.”
Following the trip, the trainees had the opportunity to write a reflection on the visit and how they thought the experience would impact their careers moving forward.
“A skill I learned that will impact my future profession as a registered dietitian is to meet families where they are at,” said Chambers. “It is important to share things that are available and achievable to them. For example, there would be no point in just telling a family to go see a doctor if they are unable to travel or afford to go. Some challenges that I encountered stemmed from lack of access to resources, food, school supplies, and overall access to health care. Thinking of skills that [families] can develop, or ways to combat a challenge they are facing that is achievable will allow them to be most successful in helping their child.”
This trip left an impact where some of the students decided to do a fundraiser for one of the schools to get a tuktuk to transport students and their families to the schools. Additionally, Julie Sears started a nonprofit organization, Advancing Education, to support the needs of children with disabilities in developing countries. She and Lisa Dunkley are also currently working in partnership with DSI and DDSP to develop research projects to carry out the mission of Advancing Education. You can learn more about Advancing Education by visiting the its Facebook and Instagram accounts.
“As a professional, Cambodia has impacted the way I perceived resilience. It allowed me to see that with little a lot can be achieved,” said Dunkley. “With so few educational resources and infrastructure needs, the teachers I encountered were all warm, welcoming, and dedicated to serving students with disabilities. The children expressed great passion for learning, and they were filled with such insatiable curiosity about these strangers in their school. The parents of children with disabilities battle what I consider significant challenges of accessible transportation, sweltering heat, and hours of hanging out with other parents in the school yard waiting for school to adjourn. I feel empowered to show up every day like these parents to support children and families of underrepresented backgrounds. A closer look at how parents bond together as they line in the school yard spoke to peer support, dedication, and community. I admire that greatly. No man is an island, and no man stands alone.”
About Vanderbilt Consortium LEND
The purpose of the Vanderbilt Consortium LEND is to improve the health of infants, children, and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disabilities and related disabilities (NDRD) and to increase access to family-centered, community-based, culturally competent, interprofessional services. The program focuses on preparing health professionals to assume leadership roles and develop interprofessional team skills and advanced clinical skills, and research skills to meet the complex needs of children with NDRD.
The Vanderbilt Consortium LEND includes faculty and trainees from Belmont University, East Tennessee State University, Meharry Medical College, Tennessee State University, Vanderbilt University, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, as well as affiliates from Family Voices of Tennessee.
To learn more about Vanderbilt Consortium LEND, click here.
