EFFECTS OF DISABILITY IN HOUSEHOLDS

Disability causes a series of linked negative effects that affect the family system, worsening its often precarious situation due to the difficult environmental and social conditions present. These effects can be listed in the following:

a) Marriage separations. Due to the cultural conceptions described, many family unions break up at the birth of a disabled child. This is because the birth of this child is perceived as only as a calamity but also as a curse on the family leading to strong tensions in the couple and between the couple and their families. Normally, the mother is driven out of the house with her disabled child creating a cycle of violence, neglect and neglect that inevitably affects the child himself.

(b) High infant mortality.  It is estimated that there are 365 deaths per 1000 births (National Health Communication Strategy, 1999-2010). Many disabled children die between the age of 0 and 5, especially those suffering from cerebral paralysis, hydrocephaly and spina bifida.

(c) Unemployment. Disabled people are often denied the right to education and therefore have little chance of employment thereafter. This aggravates the already poor living conditions and increases the possibility for children to encounter the same difficulties.

“If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace

d) Sexual/physical abuse. Disabled children are more vulnerable to the physical and sexual abuse that often takes place in the intrafamily context. In many cases, given the difficulty of families providing care and protection, they are exposed to abuse in the neighbourhood and are at the mercy of everyone. Furthermore, due to their difficult access to birth control services, they suffer severely from reproductive and health problems related to abuse.

e) Disability costs. Disability affects not only the individual but his family and community. It places considerable economic and social weight on people caring for the disabled. The care of a child with severe disabilities increases the workload of women living in extreme poverty and takes time and resources away from those who are already forced to fight for survival..