Survey on the Actual Situation of Accepting Children with Disabilities in after school daycare and How the Environment should be Improved

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to clarify the actual situation of acceptance of children with disabilities in school-age childcare facilities and to examine how the environment should be improved. In this study, we investigated the acceptance of children with disabilities and the environment of childcare facilities for children with disabilities. The results indicated that children with disabilities are accepted regardless of their disability type, and that they show behaviors to calm themselves down. On the other hand, children’s preferred space was not necessarily a special room, such as “a space separated by partitions”, or “a fixed space such as on a carpet”. It is necessary to consider the configuration of spaces where children who use after-school care, regardless of whether they have disabilities or not, can spend time together in a safe and comfortable environment.