Abstract
The principal objective of this work was to establish the effectiveness of integrated camps … in which children with and without disabilty live together … in getting the participants to have positive experiences, and also to identify their potential problem areas. Studies were conducted throughout the four camps given by the Kyoto Welfare Institute for the Disabled Children during a period from August 1984 to March 1985. How interactions among the members in each group changed and how groupworkers got involved with the participants were also investigated. Major findings are : (1) Each member in a particular group increased interest in and and interactions with the other participants in the same group throughout the four camps. (2) In initial stages, children with disability were more rejected and disregarded than accepted, but later on, they came stepby-step to gain their footings in their respective groups. (3) Workers were often both directive and instructive, and poor enough to grasp the sentiments of … and to accdpt … the members whom they were in charge of. (4) Participants were engrossed in attempts to become intimate with their workers, rather than taking the initiative in leading the group they belonged to. Based on growing positive interactions among the members in each group, it is safe to say that these camps have achieved their purpose of integrating the children with and without disability. Workers have a strong tendency to instruct or direct members, and lack the ability to grasp their sentiments. Such workers' attitude could induce the members to become to become dependent and not to volunteer to assume leadership. In that sense, how workers should be put to training, beginning with sensitivety training, will be addressed as a future problem.
