News

Los Angeles, CA, May 27 – Depression is a silent epidemic in America: according to the community-based nonprofit, Mental Health America, 13% of youth battle depressive episodes. MTV’s new investigative documentary on mental illness, Each and Every Day, offers powerful visibility to the survivors behind these statistics. Though nonvisible disabilities often can be overlooked in media, MTV is using their production platform to authentically shed light on the many ways depression affects the youth of America across every demographic. Each and Every Day is a must-watch to have a better understanding of the disparities that exist when people attempt to get help in managing their mental health conditions.

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Washington, D.C., May 23 – In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, RespectAbility recognizes the contributions made by and the important presence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in the United States. In total, there are more than 18 million Asian Americans in America today. Out of that number, there are 1,315,999 Asian Americans living with some form of physical, sensory, cognitive or other disability. In addition, there are 612,857 native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders living in the United States. Out of that number, approximately 64,782 have disabilities.

Digging deeper, there are 537,908 working-age Asian Americans with disabilities. In the economic expansion prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian Americans with disabilities had one of the highest employment rates of the disability community, with fully 43.1 percent having jobs. By comparison, 76 percent of Asian Americans without disabilities had jobs prior to the pandemic. [continue reading…]

Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month by recognizing the Legislative Leadership of Sen. Tammy Duckworth

Washington, D.C., May 23 – Since being elected to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate in 2016, Tammy Duckworth has carved a name for herself as an advocate for disability and veterans’ rights. She also bears the honor of having many “firsts” to her name. Born to Thai mother of Chinese heritage and an American father on the 12^th of March 1968, Sen. Duckworth is the first Thai woman to be elected to U.S. Congress, the first woman to give birth while serving in office as a U.S. senator, and is the first female Senator to use a wheelchair.

According to the U.S. Census, as of 2019, there were 18,297,153 Asian Americans living in the United States. Out of that number, there are 1,315,999 Asian Americans who identify that they are living with some form of disability, many of whom face double discrimination. Sen. Duckworth is helping to fight these stigmas as a very public role model. [continue reading…]

Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month by recognizing the Legislative Leadership of Sen. Mazie Hirono

Washington, D.C., May 23 – U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) has been working in government since the 1980’s, striving tirelessly to make a difference and has made great advances on many fronts. She is the first Asian American woman elected to the Senate, the first woman elected to the Senate from Hawaii, and the first Buddhist senator. As of May 2017, Hirono is also a woman with a disability serving in the U.S. Senate.

During an x-ray before minor eye surgery, it was discovered that Sen. Hirono had stage 4 kidney cancer. Since then, she has had to undergo surgery to remove her right kidney and a rib, as well as extensive cancer treatment. Hirono considers herself lucky that she was able to get early intervention and that she had health insurance at the time of her diagnosis. Thus, she is a strong supporter of healthcare reform and specifically, Medicare for All. However, her support for healthcare reform started long before her diagnosis. [continue reading…]

Jewish. Chinese. Adoptee. Those three words don’t seem to go together, and yet for me they do. Those three words describe me and my identity… oh and don’t forget to add: autistic! Talk about intersectionality!

Upon first glance, it’s easy to notice that I don’t “look” like the typical American Jewish woman, nor does my family “look” like the typical American Jewish family! I was adopted from China at the age of one by my Ashkenazi Jewish, New Yorker, single mom. She and my godmother traveled to China to adopt me. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, May 20 – Everyone has different motivators in life. Some people are motivated by passion, some money, others necessity. For Shaina Ghuraya, her motivation is her white-hot rage. It’s that same rage that unintentionally drove Shaina to become a filmmaker. As a Punjabi woman in a wheelchair, Shaina describes herself as a triple threat, and it’s within that intersectionality that Shaina found her voice as a filmmaker.

Shaina’s foray into directing started with a spite piece she made while in undergrad at The University of Sacramento. Fed up with how inaccessible the university was, Shaina made a documentary exposing the university for its lack of accessibility. In making that film, Shaina saw the importance of her voice and her perspective. [continue reading…]

Largest cross-sector effort to shift from mental health awareness to mental health action organized in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing trauma of systemic racism

Learn more at www.MentalHealthActionDay.org

Los Angeles, May 20 – Today the disability advancement nonprofit RespectAbility and more than 1,300 organizations, brands, government agencies and cultural leaders will participate in the inaugural Mental Health Action Day to drive the conversation from mental health awareness to mental health action. Convened by MTV Entertainment Group, Mental Health Action Day is an open-source movement, aimed at motivating people to take action to get mental health support — whether for themselves, their loved ones or for everyone by advocating for systemic changes for mental health access and equity. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, May 19 – Steve Lee is a Chinese standup comedian, writer, actor, and producer with Amyoplasia Congenita Disruptive Sequence. Amyoplasia congenita is the most common type of arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC), and mainly refers to disorders with limb involvement.

Originally from Hong Kong, Lee came to America when he was 17 as an exchange student. He jokes that he was placed in the most diverse state in America: Kansas. Lee was the only student of color in his high school. In a short film for the 2020 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge, Lee remembers it was a teacher in Kansas that made him realize he was the one labeling himself as a person with a disability. He wasn’t as different as society in America and Hong Kong wanted him to believe. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, CA, May 16 – DGA Award-winning director Andrew Reid was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. Reid lived in Jamaica until the age of 10, and then moved to the United States, where he went on to graduate from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

At the age of 21, while on vacation in Cancun, Mexico, Reid became paralyzed from the chest down. A malformation of his blood vessels (AVM) resulted in a rupture, which compressed his spine while he was sleeping, leaving him completely paralyzed. He was told by doctors he would never walk again, although he eventually did regain movement, and currently walks with the assistance of a cane.

During his time at the hospital, Reid completed his first film project. He went around the hospital and recorded interviews with other patients and compiled the footage into a chronicle of the institution. [continue reading…]