Abstract

Children with Special Needs (CwSN) are at heightened risk during disasters due to inadequate disaster management provisions for them. Their disabilities make them particularly vulnerable when disaster protections are inadequate or when injured children receive improper treatment. This further hinders their educational development. Furthermore, the lack of fully disability-inclusive infrastructure and educational facilities in schools makes them vulnerable to disasters, as they face cognitive and physical barriers. This study investigates the involvement of CwSN in disaster management, the programmes and global efforts to include them, the policies that incorporate them, and the role of socio-economic and psychological factors in their education. This study finds that there is limited data available on CwSN and their disaster management education, thereby highlighting gaps in current disaster management educational practices for CwSN. It further concluded that there is a lack of proper disability-inclusive provisions for CwSN to support them in disaster management; thus, there is an urgent need to provide CwSN with adequate disaster management educational provisions in emergencies. It also suggests incorporating disability-specific disaster management strategies into disaster management education to reduce the risk of disasters and promote global cooperation in building resilient communities that protect and include CwSN during emergencies.