ABSTRACT
Families with disabilities or chronic illness can be very distrustful of professionals who seek to support them. This is often due to health disparities that have affected those who are disadvantaged not only by disability, but also by culture, ethnicity, gender status, language, race, religion, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status. This chapter looks at cultural and other factors that intersect with disability, exploring the perceptions and experiences of members of the United States majority culture as well as those of multilingual learners, immigrants, and individuals who identify as Latine, Black, Indigenous AAPI, Muslim, and LGBTQ+. Readers will learn to look inward for signs of unconscious biases in themselves—biases that can lead to dire inequities in the application of the law, medical treatments, therapeutic support, and educational interventions and opportunities. Using principles of Universal Design and other paradigms, this chapter offers strategies readers can use to make their offices and organizations more accessible, and to help readers become powerful allies to the families they serve.
