Posted June 1, 2020 by Alice Wong Podcast

Ep 78: Hate Crimes

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Today’s episode is about hate crimes with Dr. Sachin Pavithran, the Director of Policy at the Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University. Sachin is also a member of the Access Board, an independent federal agency and President of the Board of AUCD (Association of University Centers on Disabilities). We talked in October last year about his personal experiences and please note there will be discussions on hate, hate crimes, racism, racial profiling, police brutality, xenophobia, and violence.

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About

Picture of Sachin Pavithran, a South Asian man in a suit holding white cane outside the Capitol in Salt Lake City.

Sachin Pavithran was born in India, but grew up in Dubai which is in the United Arab Emirates. Sachin came to the US at the age of 17 to start his undergraduate degree at Utah State University. His undergraduate degrees are in Business Information Systems, and another degree in Marketing. Sachin received his Masters in Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling and has a PhD in Disability Disciplines with an emphasis on disability policy. Sachin is currently the Program Director of the Utah Assistive Technology Program (UATP) and the Director of Policy for the Center for Persons with Disabilities. Sachin enjoys being an advocate for people with disabilities. He keeps up with the research and development of various assistive technologies, and is involved nationally in working with legislators in the Federal and State Government to bring change in Policies that have a direct impact on individuals with disabilities. He has reached out to the international community on Disability Policy and Infrastructure Development based on the requirements set forth by the UN CRPD. He has trained and presented in several countries such as the United Arab Emirates, India, Egypt, Syria, Philippines, Thailand, Turkey and Mexico. Sachin has over eighteen years of direct involvement in development, testing, and training for accessibility for assistive technology, extensive experience in lecturing and training others in accessible technology. Sachin provides technical assistance on accessible information technology for individuals and groups. He helps in the evaluation of products related to web accessibility and design. Sachin has had extensive experience working with the higher education community dealing with access to instructional materials and transition from K – 12 to post-secondary education and then to the workforce. He is strongly engaged in the dialogue about cultural diversity, inclusion of people with disabilities and LGBTQ to promote equality on a state and national level. He has served on various boards nationally such as, The Research and Development committee for the National Federation of the Blind, the Assistive Technology Act Programs national board, Association of University Centers on Disabilities national board, and Senator Hatch’s Advisory committee for disability policy. He was appointed by President Obama to the U.S. Access Board where he chairs several rule making committees in this capacity. He was appointed to the US Commission on Civil Rights where he serves as a strong advocate for civil rights for all nationally. Sachin aspires to be in the fore-front of establishing and implementing national and international policy that impacts people with disabilities around the world.

Twitter: @SDPavithran

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