Article | Inclusive on internship: tips for education professionals

For students with physical, mental or sensory disabilities, it can be difficult to find a suitable internship placement. They may also experience obstacle during the internship. The most common bottlenecks are the heavy workload, the long work day and work week and the travel/travel time to and from the internship site. This can cause stress, fatigue and anxiety for students. Within the program, for most students with support needs, provision has been made for this and support is provided as needed.

When these students go on internships, these certainties often fall away. As a dean, internship or career counselor, this is where the work begins. We hereby give you some tips to support these students who are going on internships.

Importance of internships for students with support needs

Internships are an essential part of study. With internships, students gain work experience, get an idea of their future as workers, and it can also provide a first job after graduation. For these students, an internship is also the way to discover their own workload capacity. This is very important for their career opportunities.

Despite the barriers, the majority of students with support needs manage to successfully complete the internship. They know how to find solutions themselves or with others to problems they encounter. They benefit from extra help from the program and the opportunity to work flexibly or take longer on the internship.

Tips | preparing for an internship

• Discuss with students what they need to do their internship well and what support you can provide.
• Be open to the conversation. Don’t be too quick to think that students are not motivated. For example, when they indicate that they cannot do an internship for 30 hours a week. A lenient attitude is therefore recommended, especially initially.
• Keep an eye on students. Often they do not want to be a burden to anyone and want the same treatment as everyone else. Look at the students’ specific situation and what their options are Try to make students feel that they can get a handle on things themselves and that you want to support them in doing so.
• In addition to showing understanding, be honest about the options available. Is something not feasible? Discuss this with the student and be honest about it.
• Make sure you know who is responsible for what within the institution around services and support, to whom you can refer if necessary. And that you are aware of opportunities for referral to organizations for specific support, outside the school.
• Some conditions require practical adaptations/facilities. For example, an adapted workplace, requesting aids or special transportation. There are various allowances for this. Students can apply for these at the UWV. Keep in mind that applying for facilities can take weeks or months. Students can find more tips on onbelbelemmerdstuderen.nl.
• Record the adjustments for students, preferably in the internship agreement. Also make sure that the agreements about assessment of the internship goals or internship assignment are on paper. Any promises about, for example, taking certain obstacles into account also belong in the internship contract.
• Does the program have a pool of inclusive companies? Check with the program (internship office/career center) to see what internships are available and the experiences of students with support needs who have previously been on internships.
• Point students to internship companies with diversity policies. For example Shell, ING, Albert Heijn, Rabobank, Google, Microsoft, DOW and L’Oréal. Also SME companies affiliated with De Normaalste Zaak work on inclusive entrepreneurship. Students can inquire about this themselves. On onbelemmerdstuderen.nl you can also find organizations that offer inclusive internships.
• For students with support needs, it is often difficult to determine how, if and when to tell about their support needs. However, this is situation- and person-dependent. For example, wheelchair-bound students should inquire about accessibility with the company. It is generally discouraged to address the support need already in the cover letter so that they are not rejected in advance. During the job interview, support needs can be better explained with opportunities and possibilities. More understanding on the part of the employer often allows for more flexibility. At onbelemmerdstuderen.nl students can find tips on this.
• Discuss with students what sensitive information may be shared with the internship company. Keep in mind the rules of European privacy legislation. This also applies to communication within the educational institution. Explicit permission from students is required here.

Tips | guidance during the internship

When supervising an intern with a support need, the same applies as for other students: make good arrangements before the internship begins. Agree on when and how often there will be contact and also make contact with the internship company yourself to keep the lines of communication short.

It can be a barrier to communication to visit the employer even before the internship begins. This also allows you to align expectations right away.

• Make it clear that students can always come to you if questions arise or problems arise in the interim.
• Schedule extra time for interviews because there may be more areas of concern or concern than with students without support needs.
• Ask students regularly how their load capacity is doing.
• Consult the established agreements within your own educational institution and the laws and regulations. Such as the Education and Examination Regulations (TER), the Equal Treatment Act (WGB- H/CZ) or the Higher Education and Scientific Research Act (HRA).
• Continue to think in terms of possibilities when students cannot complete an internship assignment as required. Ultimately, achieving the internship goals and competencies is the starting point. Use opportunities that allow them to do this in a different way Think about:
  • The use of a sign language interpreter if the student needs to give a presentation on their internship.
  • Having another person write out the internship report or using a speech program in case of dyslexia.
  • Managing deadlines more flexibly with chronic fatigue.

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