Disability and Climate Crises: Opportunities to Move Beyond Recognizing Ethical Responsibility and to Take Action

The world is facing an unprecedented crisis due to the harms associated with climate change. The universal impacts of these changes are creating as yet poorly acknowledged health crises, disproportionately affecting people with neurodisabilities. These disruptions are experienced differentially, related to sociodemographic and political factors that offer relative protection for some and ever-increasing vulnerability for others. This essay offers an overview of key contributing factors that are likely to exacerbate this climate crisis for individuals with neurodisabilities and provides recommendations regarding how to recognize and seize opportunities to confront the ever-growing threats of climate change for these people, their families, and communities. These perspectives are grounded in broader critical disability studies, strategies addressing social vulnerability, and environmental justice. Climate adaptation is extremely complex and far broader than disaster risk readiness and response. It would therefore be understandable to feel powerless in the face of human-created climate events that impel the world toward the brink. There are, however, many reasons for hope. This essay argues in favor of working to capture people's lived experiences and resourcefulness. We must recognize the creative and improvised strategies they are able to devise, and describe and promote the ensuing actions that we can take for the wellbeing of the people we service. In our professional roles in research and in direct health, social and educational services, and working in collaboration with families of individuals with neurodisabilities, we have the power to act and advocate. This is a time, as never before, for thoughtful and concerted action.