Introduction: The frequency of natural disasters has increased globally in recent decades. Children with disabilities are at a higher risk during emergencies due to their specific needs, which can create difficulties in adapting to shelter environment during disasters.
Objectives: This study aimed to explore the challenges faced by children with disabilities in emergency shelters in Indonesia.
Methods: This was a qualitative descriptive study with purposive sampling technique was used to recruit participants. Interviews were conducted once for each participant. Data collected in Cianjur and Sukabumi which was impacted by earthquake a few years ago. The collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Research ethics were approved by author’s institution.
Results: Fourteen parents of various children with disabilities participated in this study. Exploring the challenges faced by children with disabilities in emergency shelter resulted in two themes and eight subthemes, namely (1) Internal Challenges, including subthemes of adapt in new environment, communicate with other refugees, perform daily occupation, common post-disaster health issues, and awareness of disaster; and (2) External Challenges, which include subthemes infrastructure availability, government regulations, and disaster-specific factor.
Conclusion: This research highlights internal and external challenges faced by children with disabilities in emergency shelter. Internal challenges are related to the limitations of children with disabilities while external challenges are associated with barriers created by the environment. These findings underscore the critical need for more inclusive disaster preparedness strategies that address both the unique needs of children with disabilities and structural barriers, ensuring they are supported in emergency shelter environments.