In Disaster, the Disability Community is Always Forgotten

http://goo.gl/zFNHkT

September is National Preparedness Month. In honor of that, I’m about to go on a full-fledged rant.

I’m a fixture on Twitter and Facebook; I follow various government and nongovernmental agencies, as well as media outlets, tweeting and retweeting information to my followers when disasters and emergencies occur. I post and share information on Facebook, as well. Without fail, when I ask about people with disabilities, there is no response. Nothing. Crickets.

I can’t get answers on anything–accessibility status on shelters, numbers of people with disabilities who have been evacuated, if or how people with disabilities have been impacted by disasters, numbers of people with disabilities involved in emergency planning or management, numbers of people with disabilities being served, or who volunteer to help out during a disaster – nothing! It’s as if someone clicks on the ignore or the delete button when they see my question