Rooshey Hasnain
Clinical Associate Professor, Disability and Human Development
Clinical Associate Professor, Rehabilitation Sciences
Focus Areas
- Cultural Competency
- Community-Based Participatory Research
- Disability Arts and Culture
- Disability
- Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
- Aging
- Participation Among People with Disabilities
- Rehabilitation
- Rights and Advocacy
- Disability Policy
- Children, Youth and Families
- Social Justice
- Entrepreneurship and Employment
- Interprofessional Education
Office Phone
Office
1640 W. Roosevelt Rd., 546 DHSP
Mail Code
231
Office Hours
By appointment
About
Dr. Rooshey Hasnain is a clinical associate professorwith the UIC Department of Disability and Human Development, Institute on Disability and Human Development, Undergraduate Rehabilitation Sciences Program, the LEND Fellowship Program and the Honors College. For more than 25 years she has developed innovative and culturally tailored initiatives that focus on advancing disability justice with individuals, families, community providers, and systems across different life domains and sectors. Her disability-centered work involves research, academic curricula, coalition building, and grassroots organizing with partners and allies. Her development and implementation of disability-inclusive grants involving historically underserved immigrants and refugees with disabilities have garnered state- and national-level recognition. Her interdisciplinary work spans projects that emphasize disability advocacy, cultural brokering/cultural competency, consumer and family empowerment, participatory action research with immigrants and refugees and their families.She serves on multiple board and in professional associations whose agendas disability inclusion, locally and globally.
Selected Grants
Illinois Department of Human Services, Asians with Disabilities Outreach Project Think-Tank (Phases 1 through 4), PI
Department of Health and Human Services-ACL-NIDILRR, Partners of Refugees in Illinois Disability Employment (PRIDE), PI
Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council, Systemic and Collaborative Approaches to Achieving Cultural and Linguistic Competence in Disability Outreach and Service, Lead Consultant, Diversity Dynamics
Illinois Welcoming Centers, Immigrant and Refugee Led Capacity Development Network of Illinois (IRLCDN), PI
Selected Publications
“Do cultural competency interventions work? A systematic review on improving rehabilitation outcomes for ethnically and linguistically diverse individuals with disabilities.”,
“Predicting community- versus facility-based employment for transition-aged, young adults with disabilities: The role of race, ethnicity, and support systems”,
“Unveiling Muslim voices: Aging parents with disabilities and their adult children and family caregivers in the U.S.: A call for research and action”,
Cross-cultural issues in the vocational rehabilitation system for Asian-Pacific Americans with disabilities, Jones & Bartlett Publishers
Service to the Community
She has served as a liaison for local and national grassroots multicultural agencies, advocacy groups, policy makers, arts organizations, filmmakers, theater groups, academic institutions, and funders to advance research agendas and programs that are often underexamined in the field. Her work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and monographs on cross-cultural disability issues
Leadership in the Profession
Midwest AAPI Research Collaboratory,, Member
The Chicago Community Foundation-Asian Giving Circle, Grant-giving committee member and AGC member
Somali Development Center, board member
Notable Honors
2021 - Community Partner Award, Center for Immigrant Resources and Community Arts (CIRCA Pintig)
2019 - AHS Excalibur Award for Teaching Excellence, College of Allied Health Science, AHS Graduating Students and AHS Student Council
2018 - Humanitarian of the Year, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago
2011 - Found Asian Award, City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations Advisory Council on Asian Affairs
Education
NIDILRR Fellowship, University of Illinois Chicago, 2007-2009
EdD in Special Education (Emphasis on disability studies, rehabilitation counseling, and community psychology), Boston University, 2001
MA in Counseling Psychology, Lewis and Clark College, 1992
BA in Psychology, University of Oregon, 1989