International Education in Rehabilitation: A Collaborative Approach Ellen S. Fabian University of Maryland Maurice McInerney American Institutes for Research Paulo dos Santos Rodrigues Academia Brasileira de Ciencias International rehabilitation has grown considerably since the International Decade of the Disabled, and the interest in the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning (ICF). Although rehabilitation educators may be aware of international issues in rehabilitation, there is surprisingly little attention given to rehabilitation issues in the developing world. This paper presents an example of a federally-funded international educational exchange between two universities in the United States and two in Brazil. Rationale for the importance of cross-cultural exchanges, as well as implications and recommendations for rehabilitation educators are presented. Rehabilitation Education, Volume 19, Number 1, pp. 15-24 (2005) T he international disability and rehabilitation movement has taken on heightened visibility since the World Health Organization’s International Year of the Disabled in 1981, and the subsequent United Nations’ Decade of Disabled Persons (1983- 1992). In response, considerable attention has been paid around the globe to policy issues and advocacy efforts such as nondiscrimination in employment, accessibility, and equal opportunity through such groups as the World Health Organization, the Na- tional Council on Disability, and human rights orga- nizations concerned with protection of people with disabilities throughout the world (Hurst, 2003). In addition, there is increased attention on interna- tional issues in rehabilitation, evidenced by profes- sional, refereed journals, such as the International Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Disability and Rehabilitation, as well as rehabilitation research Internet resources (e.g., Center for International Re- habilitation Research Information and Exchange [CIRRIE]). Although disability and rehabilitation have been featured in international exchanges of training and education among universities, through, for example, the International Exchange of Experts in Rehabilita- tion and others (CIRRIE, 2004), developing countries are not typically well-represented in such exchanges, particularly countries in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East (Ingstad, 2001). This under-repre- sentation probably exists for a variety of reasons. First, many developing countries simply do not have the economic or social resources to support reha- bilitation programs as they are defined in the U.S. and other industrialized countries. Second, models of health care and service delivery in the develop- ing world are considerably different from those that exist in industrialized countries (Zambone & Suarez, 1996). Differences are not only the result of econom- Rehabilitation Education