Editing Disability (section)

==Disability activism==
Disability activism itself has led to the revision of appropriate language, when discussing disability and disabled people. For example, the medical classification of 'retarded' has since been disregarded, due to its negative implications. Moreover, disability activism has also led to pejorative language being reclaimed by disabled people. Mairs (1986)<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1515/9781478004363-005 |chapter=On Being a Cripple |title=The Social Medicine Reader |volume=2 |edition=3rd |date=2020 |pages=37–47 |isbn=978-1-4780-0436-3 }}</ref> explained how disabled people may choose to self-describe themselves as a 'cripple'. This may appear surprising that they are using stereotypically negative language associated with disability to describe themselves; however the purpose is to reclaim the 'disabled identity' from medical professionals, and realign it with the preferred language of disabled people. The reclamation of language demonstrated above positions itself within the social model, as it highlights how as a society we construct concepts and perceptions of disability.[[File:Museum of disABILITY History Buffalo NY.jpg|alt=crutches, braces, photographs, and other exhibits|thumb|Museum of disABILITY History, [[Buffalo, New York]]]]Disability activists have drawn attention to the following issues:

[[File:Autism spectrum infinity awareness symbol.svg|thumb|right|x200px|alt=Autism acceptance symbol; an infinity symbol that is rainbow colored.|The rainbow-colored [[infinity]] symbol represents the diversity of the autism spectrum as well as the greater [[neurodiversity]] movement.<ref name="symbol" >{{cite web |first=Debra |last=Muzikar |title=The Autism Puzzle Piece: A symbol that's going to stay or go? |url=http://the-art-of-autism.com/the-autism-puzzle-piece-a-symbol-of-what/ |website=The Art of Autism |date=April 20, 2015 |access-date=April 1, 2017 |archive-date=April 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170401234134/http://the-art-of-autism.com/the-autism-puzzle-piece-a-symbol-of-what/ |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

=== Rights and policies ===

==== Rights movement ====
{{main|Disability rights movement}}

The disability rights movement aims to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for disabled people. The specific goals and demands of the movement are [[accessibility]] and [[safety]] in transportation, architecture, and the physical environment; equal opportunities in [[independent living]], employment, education, and housing; and freedom from abuse, neglect, and violations of [[patients' rights]].<ref name="disabilityrightswi.org">{{cite web |title=Disability Rights Wisconsin |url=http://www.disabilityrightswi.org/priority-issues/abuse-neglect-and-patient-rights |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319215011/http://www.disabilityrightswi.org/priority-issues/abuse-neglect-and-patient-rights |archive-date=March 19, 2012 |access-date=August 11, 2012 |publisher=Disabilityrightswi.org}}</ref> Effective civil rights legislation is sought to secure these opportunities and rights.<ref name="disabilityrightswi.org" /><ref name="Law">{{cite book |last=Bagenstos |first=Samuel |url=https://archive.org/details/lawcontradiction0000bage |title=Law and the Contradictions of the Disability Rights Movement |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-300-12449-1 |location=New Haven |jstor=j.ctt1npkj3 |oclc=262432366}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Löve |first1=Laufey |last2=Traustadóttir |first2=Rannveig |last3=Rice |first3=James |date=March 26, 2018 |title=Achieving disability equality: Empowering disabled people to take the lead |journal=Social Inclusion |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=1–8 |doi=10.17645/si.v6i1.1180 |doi-access=free|hdl=20.500.11815/760 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

The early disability rights movement was dominated by the medical model of disability, where emphasis was placed on curing or treating disabled people so that they would adhere to the social norm, but starting in the 1960s, rights groups began shifting to the social model of disability, where disability is interpreted as an issue of discrimination, thereby paving the way for rights groups to achieve equality through legal means.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kemple |first1=Miriam |last2=Ahmad |first2=Fatima |last3=Girijashanker |first3=Suraj |date=2011 |title=Shaping Disability Rights through Shaping the Disability Movement |journal=Journal of Human Rights Practice |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=355–63 |doi=10.1093/jhuman/hur019}}</ref>

Advocacy for disability issues and accessibility in the republics of the former Soviet Union has become more organized and influential in policymaking.<ref name="kzdisab">{{cite news |last=Satubaldina |first=Assel |date=November 27, 2020 |title=We Seek to Promote a Human Rights Based Approach to Disability |newspaper=The Astana Times |location=Kazakhstan |url=https://astanatimes.com/2020/11/we-seek-to-promote-a-human-rights-based-approach-to-disability-says-shyrak-association-leader-lyazzat-kaltayeva/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202115456/https://astanatimes.com/2020/11/we-seek-to-promote-a-human-rights-based-approach-to-disability-says-shyrak-association-leader-lyazzat-kaltayeva/ |archive-date=December 2, 2020}}</ref>

==== Disability Justice Movement ====
{{Main|Disability justice|l1=Disability Justice}}

Evolving from the disability rights movement is the Disability Justice movement, which aims to improve the lives of disabled people through prioritizing collective liberation, as opposed to prioritizing legislative change and traditional civil rights. This framework, dubbed the "second wave" of disability rights, seeks to examine the many systems of oppression that are intertwined with ableism, such colonialism, white supremacy, and heteropatriarchal capitalism.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Berne |first=Patty |title=Disability Justice - a working draft by Patty Berne |url=https://www.sinsinvalid.org/blog/disability-justice-a-working-draft-by-patty-berne |access-date=October 7, 2022 |website=Sins Invalid - An Unashamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility|date=June 10, 2015 }}</ref> The term "Disability Justice" was coined in 2005 by [[LGBT|LGBTQ]] disabled women of color, [[Mia Mingus]], [[Patricia Berne]], and [[Stacey Milbern]], who sought to build an anti-ableist movement with a larger emphasis on [[intersectionality]] than mainstream disability rights, as to center marginalized voices. Their group, the Disability Justice Collective, also included notable disability activists such as Sebastian Margaret, [[Leroy F. Moore Jr.]], well known for his poetry and founding of the [[Krip Hop]] movement, and [[Eli Clare]], well known for popularizing the [[bodymind]] concept within disability studies.

==== Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ====
On December 13, 2006, the [[United Nations]] formally agreed on the [[Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities]], the first human rights treaty of the 21st century, to protect and enhance the rights and opportunities of the world's estimated 650 million disabled people.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal |last1=Kayess |first1=Rosemary |last2=French |first2=Phillip |date=2008 |title=Out of darkness into light? Introducing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities |journal=Human Rights Law Review |volume=8 |pages=1–34 |doi=10.1093/hrlr/ngm044}}</ref> {{as of|2021|January}}, 182 nations have ratified or accepted accession to the convention.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) |url=https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002201518/https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html |archive-date=October 2, 2016 |access-date=January 19, 2021 |website=[[United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs]]: Disability}}</ref> Countries that sign the convention are required to adopt national laws, and remove old ones, so that persons with disabilities will, for example, have equal rights to education, employment, and cultural life; to the right to own and inherit property; to not be discriminated against in marriage, etc.; and to not be unwilling subjects in medical experiments. UN officials, including the High Commissioner for Human Rights, have characterized the bill as representing a paradigm shift in attitudes toward a more rights-based view of disability in line with the social model.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

==== International Year of Disabled Persons ====
In 1976, the [[United Nations]] began planning for its [[International Year of Disabled Persons]] (1981),<ref>{{cite journal |date=1980 |title=International Year for Disabled Persons |journal=Public Health Reports |volume=95 |issue=5 |pages=498–499 |pmc=1422742 |pmid=6893494}}</ref> later renamed the [[International Year of Disabled Persons]].  Some disability activists used the Year to highlight various injustices, such as in Australia where beauty pageants were targeted in order to, in the words of activist Leslie Hall, "challenge the notion of beauty" and "reject the charity ethic.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McIntyre |first=Iain |date=April 26, 2023 |title=People With Disability Australian Protest Timeline |url=https://commonslibrary.org/people-with-disability-australian-protest-timeline/ |access-date=March 31, 2024 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}}</ref> The UN Decade of Disabled Persons (1983–1993) featured a World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons. In 1979, [[Frank Bowe]] was the only person with a disability representing any country in the planning of IYDP-1981. Today, many countries have named representatives who are themselves individuals with disabilities. The decade was closed in an address before the General Assembly by [[Robert Davila]]. Both Bowe and Davila are [[deaf]]. In 1984, [[UNESCO]] accepted [[sign language]] for use in the education of deaf children and youth.

==== Policies in former Soviet Union republics ====
UN programs and OSCE work to align policy and programs in countries that were part of the former Soviet Union with the [[Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities]].<ref name="osceinfsukz">{{cite web |date=November 14, 2019 |title=OSCE supports roundtable discussion on the rights of persons with disabilities in Nur-Sultan |url=https://www.osce.org/programme-office-in-nur-sultan/438833 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129073713/https://www.osce.org/programme-office-in-nur-sultan/438833 |archive-date=November 29, 2020 |access-date=December 4, 2020 |website=Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe}}</ref>

=== Political issues ===
{{Main|Ableism}}
[[File:USMC-00772.jpg|alt=woman seated in a wheelchair with military personnel in background|thumb|left|upright|A 28-year-old Iraqi woman who lost both of her legs during the [[Iraq War]] in 2005]]
Political [[rights]], [[social inclusion]] and [[citizenship]] have come to the fore in developed and some developing countries. The debate has, some instances, moved beyond a concern about the perceived cost of maintaining dependent disabled people to finding effective ways to ensure that disabled people can participate in and contribute to society in all spheres of life.

In developing nations, where the vast bulk of the estimated 650 million disabled people reside, a great deal of work is needed to address concerns ranging from accessibility and education to self-empowerment, self-supporting employment, and beyond.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Fact Sheet on Persons with Disabilities |url=http://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/toolaction/pwdfs.pdf |url-status=live |department=Division for Inclusive Social Development |journal=United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs:Enable |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030192824/https://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/toolaction/pwdfs.pdf |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |access-date=August 27, 2018}}</ref>

In the past few decades, the efforts of disability rights activists around the world, focused on obtaining full citizenship for disabled people, have come under academic study and gained some level of public recognition in many places, such as in the United States.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carey |first=Allison C. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt14bs8th |title=On the Margins of Citizenship: Intellectual Disability and Civil Rights in Twentieth-Century America |date=2009 |publisher=Temple University Press |jstor=j.ctt14bs8th |isbn=978-1-59213-697-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sépulchre |first=Marie |date=June 1, 2020 |title=Ensuring equal citizenship for disabled people: A matter of rights or a matter of costs? |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875067220300146 |journal=Alter |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=114–127 |doi=10.1016/j.alter.2020.03.001 |issn=1875-0672}}</ref>

There are obstacles in many countries in getting full employment and public perception of disabled people varies.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Heron |first1=Robert |title=ASSISTING DISABLED PERSONS IN FINDING EMPLOYMENT A practical guide |last2=Murray |date=2003 |publisher=International Labour Organization |isbn=92-2-115116-6 |edition=2nd |location=Geneva}}</ref>

==== Abuse ====
{{main|Disability abuse}}

Disability abuse happens when a person is abused physically, financially, verbally or mentally due to the person having a disability. As many disabilities are not visible (for example, asthma, learning disabilities) some abusers cannot rationalize the non-physical disability with a need for understanding, support, and so on.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Abuse in Disability Communities |url=https://www.thehotline.org/resources/abuse-in-disability-communities/ |access-date=February 21, 2024 |website=The Hotline |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{cite book |title=Transforming Disability into Ability |date=2003 |isbn=978-92-64-19887-6 |doi=10.1787/9789264158245-en}}</ref>

As the prevalence of disability and the cost of supporting disability increases with medical advancement and longevity in general, this aspect of society becomes of greater political importance. How political parties treat their disabled constituents may become a measure of a political party's understanding of disability, particularly in the social model of disability.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hough |first=Andrew |date=October 23, 2012 |title='Disability hate crimes' rise by a quarter in a year |newspaper=Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9626664/Disability-hate-crimes-rise-by-a-quarter-in-a-year.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=January 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9626664/Disability-hate-crimes-rise-by-a-quarter-in-a-year.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==== Insurance ====
Disability benefit, or [[disability pension]], is a major kind of [[disability insurance]] that is provided by government agencies to people who are temporarily or permanently unable to work due to a disability. In the US, the disability benefit is provided in the category of [[Supplemental Security Income]]. In Canada, it is within the [[Canada Pension Plan]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Service |date=October 14, 2015 |title=Canada Pension Plan disability benefits: Overview |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/publicpensions/cpp/cpp-disability-benefit.html |access-date=February 8, 2024 |website=www.canada.ca}}</ref> Following a long nationwide campaign involving hundreds of thousands of people the [[National Disability Insurance Scheme]] was introduced in Australia in 2013 to fund a number of supports.In other countries, disability benefits may be provided under [[social security]] systems.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Australian Progress |last2=McIntyre |first2=Iain |date=February 2, 2022 |title=Lessons from the Campaign to Stop Independent Assessments Webinar |url=https://commonslibrary.org/lessons-from-the-campaign-to-stop-independent-assessments-webinar/ |access-date=March 31, 2024 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}}</ref>

Costs of disability pensions are steadily growing in Western countries, mainly in Europe and the United States. It was reported that, in the UK, expenditure on disability pensions accounted for 0.9% of [[gross domestic product (GDP)]] in 1980; two decades later it had reached 2.6% of GDP.<ref name=":4" /><ref name="Labriola-Lund-2007">{{cite journal |vauthors=Labriola M, Lund T |year=2007 |title=Self-reported sickness absence as a risk marker of future disability pension. Prospective findings from the DWECS/DREAM study 1990–2004 |journal=Int J Med Sci |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=153–58 |doi=10.7150/ijms.4.153 |pmc=1885553 |pmid=17554400}}</ref> Several studies have reported a link between increased absence from work due to sickness and elevated risk of future disability pension.<ref name="pmid16497865">{{cite journal |vauthors=Virtanen M, Kivimäki M, Vahtera J, Elovainio M, Sund R, Virtanen P, Ferrie JE |year=2006 |title=Sickness absence as a risk factor for job termination, unemployment, and disability pension among temporary and permanent employees |journal=Occup Environ Med |volume=63 |issue=3 |pages=212–217 |doi=10.1136/oem.2005.020297 |pmc=2078149 |pmid=16497865}}</ref>

A study by researchers in Denmark suggests that information on self-reported days of absence due to sickness can be used to effectively identify future potential groups for disability pension.<ref name="Labriola-Lund-2007" /> These studies may provide useful information for policymakers, case managing authorities, employers, and physicians.

In Switzerland, social policies in the field of disability have been significantly reshaped over the last two decades by reducing the number of allowances awarded and by increasing the recourse to vocational rehabilitation measures. Drawing on interviews conducted with individuals who have been involved in programs set up by Swiss disability insurance, a study highlights their uncertainties and concerns relating to their place in society, as well as their reactions to disability insurance's interventions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Piecek |first1=Monika |last2=Perrin |first2=Céline |last3=Tabin |first3=Jean-Pierre |last4=Probst |first4=Isabelle |date=January 17, 2019 |title=The 'compliant', the 'pacified' and the 'rebel': experiences with Swiss disability insurance |journal=Disability & Society |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=583–606 |doi=10.1080/09687599.2018.1545115 |issn=0968-7599 |doi-access=free}} [[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50x50px]] Material was copied from this source, which is available under a [[creativecommons:by/4.0/|Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License]].</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tabin |first1=Jean-Pierre |last2=Piecek |first2=Monika |last3=Perrin |first3=Céline |last4=Probst |first4=Isabelle |date=September 19, 2019 |title=Three Dimensions in the Register of Shame |url=https://rdsjournal.org/index.php/journal/article/view/871 |url-status=live |journal=Review of Disability Studies |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=1–19 |issn=1552-9215 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204124336/https://rdsjournal.org/index.php/journal/article/view/871 |archive-date=February 4, 2020 |access-date=January 18, 2020}}</ref>

Private, for-profit disability insurance plays a role in providing incomes to disabled people, but the nationalized programs are the safety net that catch most claimants.

==== Employment ====
Studies have illustrated a correlation between [[disability and poverty]]. Notably, jobs offered to disabled people are scarce. Marta Russell notes that "[a] primary basis for oppression of disabled persons (those who could work with accommodations) is their exclusion from exploitation as wage laborers."{{sfn|Russell|2019|page=14}}

===== Intellectual disability =====
Many countries have programs which aid [[Intellectual disability|intellectually disabled (ID)]] people to acquire skills needed in the workforce.<ref name=":0x">{{cite journal |vauthors=Blick RN, Litz KS, Thornhill MG, Goreczny AJ |date=June–July 2016 |title=Do inclusive work environments matter? Effects of community-integrated employment on quality of life for individuals with intellectual disabilities |journal=Research in Developmental Disabilities |volume=53-54| pages=358–366| doi=10.1016/j.ridd.2016.02.015 |pmid=26977937}}</ref> Such programs include sheltered workshops and adult day care programs. Sheltered programs consist of daytime activities such as gardening, manufacturing, and assembling. These activities facilitate routine-oriented tasks that in turn allow ID people to gain experience before entering the workforce. Similarly, adult day care programs also include day time activities. However, these activities are based in an educational environment where ID people are able to engage in educational, physical, and communication-based tasks which helps facilitate communication, memory, and general living skills. In addition, adult day care programs arranged community activities by scheduling field trips to public places (e.g. zoos, and movie theaters). Despite both programs providing essential skills for intellectually disabled people prior to entering the workforce, researchers have found that ID people prefer to be involved with [[Community integration|community-integrated employment]].<ref name=":0x" /> Community-integrated employment opportunities are offered to ID people at minimum or higher wages, in a variety of occupations ranging from customer service, clerical, janitorial, hospitality and manufacturing positions. ID employees work alongside employees without disabilities who are able to assist them with training. All three options allow intellectually disabled people to develop and exercise social skills that are vital to everyday life. However, it is not guaranteed that ID employees receive the same treatment as employees without ID; according to Lindstrom et al., community-integrated employees are less likely to receive raises, and only 26% are able to retain full-time status.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal |vauthors=Lindstrom L, Hirano KA, McCarthy C, Alverson CV |date=May 2014 |title='Just having a job': Career advancement for low-wage workers with intellectual and developmental disabilities |journal=Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=40–49 |doi=10.1177/2165143414522092 |s2cid=145212407 }}</ref>

Finding a stable workforce poses additional challenges. A study published in the ''Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disability'' indicated that although finding a job may be difficult, stabilizing a job is even harder.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal |vauthors=Banks P, Jahoda A, Dagnan D, Kemp J, Williams V |year=2010 |title=Supported Employment for People with Intellectual Disability: The Effects of Job Breakdown on Psychological Well-Being |journal=Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities |volume=23 |issue=4| pages=344–354 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-3148.2009.00541.x}}</ref> Chadsey-Rusch proposed that securing employment for ID people requires adequate production skills and effective social skills.<ref name=":2"/> Other underlying factors for job loss include structural factors and worker-workplace integration. As stated by Kilsby, limited structural factors can affect a multitude of factors in a job, such as a restricted number of hours an ID person is allowed to work. This in return, according to Fabian et al., leads to a lack of opportunity to develop relationships with coworkers or to better integrate within the workplace. Nevertheless, those who are unable to stabilize a job often are left discouraged. According to the same study conducted by JARID, many who had participated found that they had made smaller incomes when compared to their co-workers, had an excess of time throughout their days, because they did not have work. They also had feelings of hopelessness and failure. According to the US National Organization on Disability, not only do ID people face constant discouragement, but many live below the poverty line, because they are unable to find or stabilize employment and because of employee restricting factors placed on ID workers.<ref name=":1"/> This renders ID people unable to provide for themselves, including basic necessities such as food, medical care, transportation, and housing.

==== Poverty ====
{{main|Disability and poverty}}
[[File: Pieter Bruegel d. Ä. 024.jpg|alt=painting of a group of people, some missing feet, hunched over crutches as a beggar walks past|thumb|''[[The Beggars|The Cripples]]'', [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder|Pieter Bruegel]], 1568]]
The poverty rate for working-age people with disabilities is nearly two and a half times higher than that for people without disabilities. Disability and poverty may form a vicious circle, in which physical barriers and stigma of disability make it more difficult to get income, which in turn diminishes access to health care and other necessities for a healthy life.{{sfn|Yeo|2005}} In societies without state funded health and social services, living with a disability could require spending on medication and frequent health care visits, in-home personal assistance, and adaptive devices and clothing, along with the usual costs of living. The [[World report on disability]] indicates that half of all disabled people cannot afford health care, compared to a third of abled people.<ref>World Health Organization, ''World report on disability'', 2011.</ref> In countries without public services for adults with disabilities, their families may be impoverished.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://centrodiba.org|title=Centro DÍBÁ|access-date=May 10, 2022|archive-date=January 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123232245/http://www.centrodiba.org/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Disasters ====
{{Main|Disability and disasters}}

There is limited research knowledge, but many anecdotal reports, on what happens when disasters impact disabled people.<ref name="cdra.colostate">{{cite journal |last1=Stough |first1=Laura M. |last2=Peek |first2=Lori |date=July 2010 |title=Children With Disabilities in the Context of Disaster: A Social Vulnerability Perspective |url=http://cdra.colostate.edu/Data/Sites/1/cdra-research/peek-stough2010.pdf |journal=Child Development |volume=81 |issue=4 |pages=1260–1270 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01466.x |issn=0009-3920 |lccn=e34000503 |oclc=641792335 |pmid=20636694 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512111637/http://cdra.colostate.edu/Data/Sites/1/cdra-research/peek-stough2010.pdf |archive-date=May 12, 2013 |access-date=January 31, 2013 |hdl=1969.1/153154}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stough |first1=Laura M. |last2=Sharp |first2=Amy N. |last3=Curt |first3=Decker |last4=Wilker |first4=Nachama |date=2010 |title=Disaster Case Management and Individuals With Disabilities |url=http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/rep-55-3-211.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Rehabilitation Psychology |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=211–220 |doi=10.1037/a0020079 |issn=0090-5550 |pmid=20804264 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512185921/http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/rep-55-3-211.pdf |archive-date=May 12, 2013 |access-date=January 31, 2013 |hdl=1969.1/153155}}</ref> Individuals with disabilities are greatly affected by disasters.<ref name="cdra.colostate" />{{sfn|Stough|2009}} Those with physical disabilities can be at risk when evacuating if assistance is not available. Individuals with [[cognitive impairments]] may struggle with understanding instructions that must be followed in the event a disaster occurs.{{sfn|Stough|2009}}{{sfn|McAdams Ducy|Stough|Clark|2012}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McAdams Ducy |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Stough |first2=Laura M. |date=July 29, 2011 |title=Exploring the support role of special education teachers after Hurricane Ike: Children with significant disabilities |journal=Journal of Family Issues |volume=32 |issue=10 |pages=1325–45 |doi=10.1177/0192513X11412494 |s2cid=146605276}}</ref> All of these factors can increase the degree of variation of risk in disaster situations with disabled individuals.<ref>{{cite web |date=August 12, 2009 |title=Effective Emergency Management: Making Improvements for Communities and People with Disabilities |url=http://www.ncd.gov/publications/2009/Aug122009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130212021905/http://www.ncd.gov/publications/2009/Aug122009 |archive-date=February 12, 2013 |access-date=January 29, 2013 |publisher=National Council on Disability |location=F Street, Washington}}</ref>

Research studies have consistently found discrimination against individuals with disabilities during all phases of a disaster cycle.<ref name="cdra.colostate" /> The most common limitation is that people cannot physically access buildings or [[transportation]], as well as access disaster-related services.<ref name="cdra.colostate" /> The exclusion of these individuals is caused in part by the lack of disability-related training provided to emergency planners and [[disaster relief]] personnel.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=May 31, 2011 |title=Disability, natural disasters and emergency situations |url=http://www.un.org/default.asp?id=1546 |department=Division for Inclusive Social Development |journal=United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs:Enable |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130202131058/http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=1546 |archive-date=February 2, 2013 |access-date=January 29, 2013}}</ref>