Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, RespectAbility recognizes the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) to our society. According to the Annual Disability Statistics Compendium, there are 18,814,944 Asian Americans living in the United States. Out of that number, 1,454,941 have disabilities. [click to continue...]
Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) students are the least likely of all races to receive special education services. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about 15% of all public school students are in special education, compared to only 8% of Asian American students. The gap is less drastic for Native Hawaiian/Pacific [click to continue...]
On May 9, 2023, I had the privilege to interview my dear friend and colleague, Dennis Tran. I worked with Dennis on the Fox Family Foundation’s Inaugural Vision Fair in October 2022, and we were both Fellows in RespectAbility’s National Leadership Program. As May is Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, [click to continue...]
The intersection of identity with disability uniquely affects people of all races. For Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) this is compounded by the fact that AAPIs are a wildly diverse ethnic group and have an equally diverse range of experiences. With a population expected to surpass 40 million by 2060, and 1.3 million disabled, it [click to continue...]
Mritika Senthil, Community Engagement Specialist at the Asian Americans with Disabilities Initiative, reflects for AAPI Heritage Month. Transcript My name is Mritika Senthil and I am currently serving as the Community Engagement Specialist at the Asian Americans with Disabilities Initiative. I’m also currently a student at a boarding school in South Carolina. One thing that [click to continue...]
Trigger warning: depression, mention of self-harm and suicide Author’s Note: My depression and dissociation comes and goes. In any given year it can happen once, multiple times, or not at all. I am not a medical professional and therefore, my advice is only a suggestion. I understand not all advice or shared practices work for [click to continue...]
Transcript Hi everybody! My name is Ollie Cantos and I’m Chairman of the board here at RespectAbility. And I am excited to have this opportunity to join with others in celebrating Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month. This is a really wonderful time of year for us to celebrate the accomplishments, in [click to continue...]
Hi everyone, I’m Wally Tablit and I’m the Director of State Policy with RespectAbility and I’m a gay Asian man with a disability. Today, I want to share with you some reflections on power, practice, and pride. Now, when I think of myself and all of those intersecting identities, we have to remember that [click to continue...]
