Enhancing the rehabilitation counseling process: Understanding the obstacles to Asian Americans' utilization of services

Abstract- Improving rehabilitation services for Asian Americans with disabilities through the rehabilitation counseling process remains as an ongoing challenge. Despite being the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States, past studies have reported low utilization rates of vocational rehabilitation and mental health services among this population. This article (a) describes Asian American views on disabilities from religious, philosophical, and spiritual perspectives; (b) reviews factors that may contribute to their being underserved in the rehabilitation; (c) discusses the influence of family dynamics on the rehabilitation process; (d) underscores unique employment challenges facing the Asian immigrant community; and (e) draws out the implications of such an analysis for rehabilitation counseling. Asian Americans first began coming to the United States in the nineteenth century; however, their number did not increase exponentially until the 1965 revision of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Despite being the fastest growing ethnic group in the nation, underutilization of vocational rehabilitation and mental health services by Asian Americans remains a pressing issue and challenge for rehabilitation professionals. Asia