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ASPartOfMe
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02 Oct 2021, 8:34 am

Ableism and the racist model minority myth are keeping Asian Americans from disability care

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As millions of children are back in school, up to 20 percent of public school students are being served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). But when data is disaggregated by race, only 7 percent of Asian American children — the lowest of any racial group — are served.

Experts say a combination of factors, including shame, socioeconomics, cultural barriers, confusion about what constitutes a disability, the model minority myth and a reluctance to identify as being disabled have led to Asian Americans being underrepresented in the disability community. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, around 1.4 million Asian American and Pacific Islanders self-identify as being disabled.

“The fact that there’s this underrepresentation in the context of disability is multifaceted,” said Rooshey Hasnain, a disability researcher and the project director of Asians with Disabilities Outreach Project Think-Tank, or ADOPT.

In her research, she has found that disabled Asian Americans are underserved and receive lower-quality support and rehabilitation compared to other groups, including Latinos and Blacks. And a lack of Asian-specific research fails to address a diverse community of 22 million people who trace their roots to more than 20 different countries.

A lot of it is intergenerational, it’s terminology and how disability is viewed in terms of that individual and that family and what community they come from,” she said. “The level of complexity becomes quite interwoven and there’s no one explanation to the reality of this lack of focus or funding, this underrepresentation or misrepresentation of Asian Americans.”

Advocates say that disabled Asian Americans are often overlooked, misunderstood and simplified, not only from outside the community, but also from within. People’s education, upbringing, culture and religious and spiritual ties all play a role in how they view disability.

Tim Jin, a disability rights advocate with cerebral palsy, said some Asian Americans’ beliefs about disabilities can be “ridiculous and outrageous.”

He recalled people who believed his parents were given a disabled child due to sinful behavior since his mother was pregnant before she married his father.

I get to meet all kinds of people in my life that try to save me from Jesus or Satan, and maybe both depending where I’m at and the situation that I’m in,” Jin said. “I get a good laugh out of them because their justifications are totally bonkers.”

Microsoft software engineer Meena Das said a relative in India believed she could cure Das’ stutter if she practiced yoga everyday and only ate vegetarian food. Other Asian Americans have been told their disability is the result of bad karma or moral wrongs.

Asian families tend to believe that children can power through their learning problems by ‘working harder,’ as that was my belief as well for a long time,” said Ann Hu, whose daughter Michelle’s own dyslexia journey inspired her latest film, “Confetti.”


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autisticelders
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07 Oct 2021, 6:51 am

thank you for this info, news to me, you must spend a lot of time searching for autism news and it is so helpful to find your informative posts here.


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ASPartOfMe
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07 Oct 2021, 6:52 pm

autisticelders wrote:
thank you for this info, news to me, you must spend a lot of time searching for autism news and it is so helpful to find your informative posts here.

You are welcome.


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Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity

“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman