“I’m Ok Because I’m Alive”: Understanding Socio-cultural Accessibility Barriers for Refugees with Disabilities in the US
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Show full item recordDate
2022-04-27Type of Work
10 pagesText
conference papers and proceedings
Citation of Original Publication
Foad Hamidi and Zulekha Karachiwalla. 2022. "I'm ok because I'm alive": understanding socio-cultural accessibility barriers for refugees with disabilities in the US. In Proceedings of the 19th International Web for All Conference (W4A '22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 26, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1145/3493612.3520446Rights
This item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.Abstract
The number of refugees worldwide has doubled in the past decade. Data shows a large percentage of refugees experience disabilities and mental health challenges, often exasperated by being exposed to violent and inhospitable conditions at different points in their journeys. There is a need to better understand the challenges that refugees with disabilities face in host countries to inform supportive policy, service, and technology solutions. In this paper, we report findings from interviews with six experts who serve refugees in the US. Participants described resources available to refugees with disabilities and how inadequate language and cultural support systems create barriers to accessing them. They also identified several directions for structural change, including access to comprehensive insurance coverage, early recognition of mental health challenges, and support for navigating the host country's complex healthcare system.