Abstract
The purpose of the present review was to clarify trends in research on the education of children with health impairments in regular classes, focusing on the time after the expansion of special needs education. More than 80% of children with chronic diseases attend regular classes. Expanding special needs education improved the education received by these children, who continued to attend regular classes. Recently, the duration of hospitalization has decreased rapidly due to the promotion of home medical care. Concomitantly, the understanding and support for children with health impairments in regular classes must be immediately improved. However, even in the context of special needs education, a significant lack of understanding of these children's situation affects their school lives. While they are attending regular classes, a variety of learning and health problems have emerged. The present paper analyzes recent changes in research on education for students with health impairments in regular classes in relation to the following topics: (a) education provided during hospitalization, and special care and support in regular classes, (b) support in special needs schools (schools for children with health impairments) for students with psychosomatic and other behavioral difficulties that have lead to their non-attendance, (c) the current state of understanding of long-term absences due to illness and measures addressing that problem, and (d) collaboration with school health programs, which play an important role in supporting children with health impairments who are attending regular classes.
