2011 Volume 52 Issue 2 Pages 158-164
From April 2006 to April 2008, 65 children who were selected for further examination at the time of their health checkup at age 3 visited the Fukushima Rehabilitation Center for Children. Follow-up examination led to a new diagnosis of autism in 5 children, HFPDD (high-functioning pervasive developmental disorder) in 2, MR (mental retardation) in 4, dysarthria in 11, and hearing loss in 5. Further follow-up was performed in these cases. Treatment of exudative otitis media in 3 of the 5 children with hearing loss improved their language development delay and dysarthria. In 1 child with moderate conductive hearing loss, guidance on the use of a hearing aid and listening ability training were begun, resulting in good language development. In 1 child with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss, hearing deterioration in the good ear was detected and a hearing aid fitted. At 4 years and 6 months, 1 child with dysarthria showed natural improvement whereas 4 others began dysarthria training. The remaining 6 children were not followed up. In cases of developmental disability and MR, treatment began with nursing guidance, followed by guidance for kindergarten and introductions to child day-care services, and an increase in IQ was observed in most cases.
