Focusing on Disabilities Among Individuals From Immigrant and Refugee Backgrounds

In 2015, Professor Eduardo Ortiz partnered as principal investigator, with Teresa Molina as coinvestigator, to research and investigate on “Diverse Communities on Disabilities among Immigrant and Refugee Background Communities in the Salt Lake City Valley.” This is an area where 95% of the state’s people of refugee background and a large proportion of the Hispanic populations live. The study was made possible by a federal grant awarded by the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD).

Long-standing UNP partnerships, such as the New American Academic Network and the Case Management for Immigrant and Refugee Background Populations course, were the structures that allowed the group to identify Helen Ntambwe-Kalala and Mireille Karam de Lopez as Leadership Fellows and Research Assistants. Throughout the year, the team conducted six focus groups with the Congolese, Sudanese, South Sudanese, Somali, Hispanic, and Arabic communities.

Since then, Helen has become a fellow at URLEND (Utah Regional Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities); the team will present at the American Universities Centers for Disabilities (AUCD) Conference: Navigating Change, Building Our Future Together; and future collaborations on the topic will take place with the aforementioned populations.

Some of the project products are tailored-made presentations to give back to these communities with critical information on disabilities.

Messages on disabilities for these populations that were presented as a result of the six focus groups:

The Sooner The Better: We aren’t sharing this with you to make you worried about your children, rather it is to help you help yourself, help your children, help your friend, and help your community. We know that for some of us “disability” is a very sensitive topic. In our cultures, sometimes, it is a “shame;” sometimes we don’t feel comfortable talking about it; sometimes we think disability is not for us, but disability is not far from us. It is for everybody. We don’t know when it can happen.

We want you to take away the following from this presentation: You say “the sooner the better” when you think something should be done as soon as possible.

For example, with the early signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), early interventions are very powerful, and they can improve the core symptoms of ASD in very young children. Don’t believe in the “wait and see” approach.

Children with autism have trouble interacting with others, so learning to connect with their peers is important. When young children learn to socialize before preschool, they get ahead. They can start to gain social acceptance, and then they can concentrate on what else preschool has to offer. When we have a child with such disability, we think that he can do better, he will not depend on you or on other family member all his life if we detect it sooner than later.

In the USA, your child can get help, learn very good skills and live an independent life. Think about when you will not be around your child. What he will become? This is why we are sharing this with you. Be an advocate for your child. Learn about symptoms, signs, and resources for people living with disabilities.