Abstract:

Disability, which is seen to have different definitions due to its many forms and the debates on its determination, refers to a state of inadequacy that prevents the fulfilment of the roles that should be performed depending on age, gender, social and cultural factors due to various reasons occurring before, during or after birth.

Disability is a situation and process that involves difficulties in understanding and coping with both the disabled individual and his/her family. It is possible to say that religion has an important place among the references used to make sense of the situation in question and to cope with the process. Because the answers given by religion to make sense of the situation that people are in, together with the need to make sense, are also a source that meets the need for spiritual power to cope with the situation they are in depending on this meaning. One of the basic elements that bring this function of religion to life is religious education. The features of religion and religious education to support individuals with disabilities and their families make it necessary to provide religious education opportunities for them and to shape these opportunities according to the needs of the individuals in question.

The main institution that organizes informal religious education activities for people with disabilities in Turkey is the Presidency of Religious Affairs. In this study, it is aimed to understand the problems and expectations of hearing and visually impaired individuals who continue the non-formal religious education given for disabled individuals within the Presidency of Religious Affairs. The research is structured with a phenomenological pattern. Interview/interview technique consisting of semi-structured questions was used to obtain the data. 30 people, including 15 hearing impaired and 15 visually impaired individuals, participated in the interviews. The results of the research will be evaluated in order to understand the sources of religious education of the participants, their ability to cope with disability, the dimensions of their need for religious education and their expectations from the institutions where they get informal religious education within the framework of this need.

Keywords:

Education, Religious Education, Disability, Hearing and Visually Impaired.