The Effect of Disasters on Disabled Individuals
Chapter from the book: Kırcı Çevik, N. (ed.) 2023. Research in Social Sciences - II.

Kübra Arslan
Kırıkkale University

Synopsis

Disasters have led to the loss of life and property, the destruction of civilizations and mass migration since the date of their occurrence. The phenomenon of disability can be internalized at the rate of awareness of the social groups with which the disabled individual interacts. Disabled individuals in society experience problems in the fields of poverty, education, rehabilitation, transportation, physical environment and housing, accessibility. In this study, it is aimed to deal with the effects of disasters on people with disabilities. A disabled person who continues his life without encountering any difficulties in the society he lived in before the disaster may fall into a disadvantageous situation by encountering problems such as restriction of movement and access as a result of the deterioration of the existing environmental and social order due to the disaster. Individuals who are stigmatized in the social life before the disaster may not be included in the disaster management processes by being ignored. Disabled individuals who are not taken into account in pre-disaster planning and risk reduction periods and who do not participate in the process as a stakeholder experience greater problems in disaster situations. Disabled individuals face many difficulties before, during and after the disaster. Difficulties faced by persons with disabilities; Disruption of support networks such as family, friends, caregivers, damage or loss of devices such as wheelchairs, prostheses, orthoses that assist mobility, difficulties in accessing emergency assembly/shelter places and early warning or general warning messages. As a result, although the way the society is affected, the severity and the responses they can give to the impact are different, the disadvantaged groups that will be most affected are the disabled. In case of being affected by disasters, individual differences can be seen in the level of being affected. Disabled people should be asked for their opinions and needs analysis should be done for these differences that will occur according to the disability status. Especially in disaster action plan studies, it should be ensured that disabled people are a part of the preparations.

How to cite this book

Arslan, K. (2023). The Effect of Disasters on Disabled Individuals. In: Kırcı Çevik, N. (ed.), Research in Social Sciences - II. Özgür Publications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.58830/ozgur.pub56.c277

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Published

March 25, 2023

DOI