• Anjum Akhter
• Zaffer Iqbal

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the resultant nationwide lockdown and school closures eroded the gains and potentially exacerbated and condemned youth with disabilities to failed citizenship of the society. No doubt, remote learning gave the students a chance to self-study, but the limited resources and services hindered their quality education the most. By performing meta-analysis, the aim of this study is to analyse the ‘challenges of youth with disabilities regarding their health and education during and post COVID-19 pandemic with reference to their response, recovery and resilience’. Our review and analysis of the studies revealed that children with disabilities are losing ground academically due to the inadequate infrastructure - electricity and stable Internet connection; lack of required assistive and other technologies; lack of previous knowledge and competency about online learning of teachers, educators and families; economic constraints; unconducive home atmosphere; deficit culture; limited support from the central and other governments; unavailability of inclusive learning materials and incompetency of teachers in online content delivery methods - all these made the whole learning experience of children with disabilities difficult leading to their low academic performance and high school dropouts. Moreover, studies revealed that for students with various disabilities, virtual learning fell short of achieving its intended goal of bridging schooling gaps during school closures as they are rarely provided with social environments to interact with community members to nurture their academic and socio-emotional repertoires. However, despite the challenges, families, professionals and teachers working with them tried to support and maintain their morale through videoconferencing and other alternative communication strategies like telerehabilitation, telemedicine, emails, phone calls, and other assistive technologies to combat the challenges of health and education. Further, through problem solving skills, positive peer relationships, digital infrastructure, etc were the key recovery and resiliency strategies. Studies suggested that by providing updated information, containing fear, adopting various inclusive strategies, preparing and engaging learners in the disaster recovery process during and after pandemic can promote their inclusivity to benefit in the community.

Health, Inclusive education, Disabilities, Covid-19, Assistive technology, Response, Recovery, and Resilience

"Health and Inclusive Challenges of Youth with Disabilities During and Post COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review on their Response, Recovery and Resilience", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.9, Issue 5, page no.c721-c736, May-2022, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2205394.pdf

"Health and Inclusive Challenges of Youth with Disabilities During and Post COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review on their Response, Recovery and Resilience", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.9, Issue 5, page no. ppc721-c736, May-2022, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2205394.pdf