2026, Vol. 6, Issue 1, Part A

The remarkable education workforce comprises health workers, clinical psychologists, therapists and special educators working with special needs, diverse learners, and persons with disabilities. In the 21st Century's technological advancement and especially the need for online teaching-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, the knowledge of technology plays a vital role for these rehab professionals. Hence, the present researcher planned to study the competencies of rehab professionals for online teaching to students with disabilities. A descriptive survey method was followed. The 'test of competencies' was developed by the researcher to focus on assessing the competencies of rehab professionals for online teaching to students with disabilities and used as the tool for data collection. Two hundred thirty-one rehab professionals working in special education were selected using snowball sampling techniques, and data was collected using Google Forms. Percentage, mean scores, 'z' test, and one-way ANOVA were used for analyzing the collected data. The study revealed that rehab professionals had enough competencies for online teaching students with disabilities despite a lack of resources. Further, the study concluded that there exists no significant difference in the competencies of male and female rehab professionals for online teaching to students with disabilities. Also, it concluded that the difference in field expertise of rehab professionals has no impact on competencies for online education to students with disabilities. The study underscore the pivotal role of technology knowledge and the resilience of rehabilitation professionals in fostering inclusive online learning environments.