Action Research on Education for Children with Deafblindness

抄録

This paper presents an overview of action research on deafblind education in Japan. It defines the concept of deafblindness in Japan along with the relevant number of affected children, describes their daily life, and summarizes the educational challenges they encounter. This study also outlines educational practice in Japan, which began in 1948 and marked the beginning of deafblind education in the country, and reviews the educational perspectives (“initial learning” and “problem-solving-based learning as an aspect of initial learning”) and the effects of educational practice on deafblind education in Japan. This paper also examines several initial communication studies on deafblind education published in Japan since 2001. Among those cited is the author’s research, which focuses on a dialogue with one congenitally deafblind child and addresses the challenges of action research surrounding communication with deafblind children in Japan.