Research

The demographics of Asian Americans describe a heterogeneous group of people in the United States who can trace their ancestry to one or more countries in Asia. Because Asian Americans total less than 5% of the entire U.S. population, the diversity of the group is often disregarded in media and news discussions of "Asians" or of "Asian Americans." While there are some commonalities across ethnic sub-groups, there are significant differences among different Asian ethnicities that are related to each group's history.

Demographics

Metropolitan Areas with the Highest Population of Asian Americans (2000 Census)

Metropolitan Area	Metropolitan population	% of Asian Americans
Honolulu, Hawaii MSA (Honolulu County)	876,156	46.0
San Francisco Bay Area	7,039,362	18.4
Greater Los Angeles Area	16,373,645	10.4
Sacramento Metropolitan Area	1,796,857	9.0
San Diego, California MSA (San Diego County)	2,813,833	8.9
Seattle Metropolitan Area	3,554,760	7.9
New York Metropolitan Area	21,199,865	6.8
Las Vegas Metropolitan Area	1,863,282	6.7
Baltimore-Washington (AA demographics)	7,608,070	5.3
Greater Houston	5,543,936	5.2
Chicago Metropolitan Area	9,098,316	4.3
Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex	5,487,956	3.6

The 2006 U.S. census recorded 14.6 million people who reported themselves as having either full or partial Asian heritage, 4.9% of the U.S. population. The largest ethnic subgroups are Chinese (3.6 million), Filipinos (2.9 million), Asian Indians (2.7 million), Vietnamese (1.6 million), Koreans (1.5 million) , and Japanese (1.2 million). Other sizable groups are Laotians (198,000), Hmong (186,000), and Thais (150,000).

Data Collection and Analysis

One of the key findings from our three statewide conferences is the lack of data and knowledge about Asian and Pacific Islanders (APIs) with disabilities at nearly every level of government and statewide organizations. Disabled APIs and access to employment have attracted very little attention among labor market scholars, and there are minimal data on this population.

Besides basic general demographic information gathered by the US Census, very little data are available on disabled APIs and even less data are available on disabled Asian immigrants. The 1.9 million working age people sampled in the 2005 Census Bureau mid-year survey for example included only 274 non-English speaking disabled APIs.

The ethnic, language and cultural diversity within the API population further compounds the difficulties that researchers face in understanding this population. The healthcare experiences of a recently immigrated non-English speaking Vietnamese immigrant may differ widely from those of a junior college educated American born disabled Chinese American. In fact, there have been some studies that suggest significant variances in funding of critical health and human services for Asians and Pacific Islanders with disabilities compared to similarly situated white Americans with disabilities.

Data Collection

To capture the diverse experiences and voices within API disabled communities, we will use focus groups, quantitative surveys, and in-depth interviews.

Policy Development and Advocacy

APIDC seeks to empower Asians and Pacific Islanders with disabilities and their families across California, who are divided by culture and language, with the tools and training that results in ongoing leadership and advocacy development, that in turn results in non-partisan unified action in public policy at every level of government. This includes:

• Training and development that results in influencing local ordinances and state and federal regulations impacting Asians and Pacific Islanders with disabilities and their families especially in the areas of health and human services.

• Training and development that results in influencing State and federal legislation, including providing data and information on the impact of proposed pending State legislation- information that is clearly missing now in state policy making. This would include training Asians and Pacific Islanders with disabilities and families on the need to be present and testify or make comments at community hearings, state legislative and budget hearings, etc.

• Provide training and information for Asians and Pacific Islanders with disabilities and families to serve on local government, state and federal boards, committees and offices that impact their lives and to demonstrate how visibility of a population in public policy making is crucial to empowerment—and for others to recognize that power.

• Provide data and information, including white papers and priorities identified by Asians and Pacific Islanders with disabilities and their families to local and state (and federal) public policy makers, advocacy organizations, local community organizations and groups.

We want to encourage public policy makers and health professions at every level to look at other health services and support options other than the traditional “medical model” – options that underscore the rights of Asians and Pacific Islanders with disabilities that we believe from our experiences at the conferences and other events, are too often denied and ignored.