Journal of Inclusive Education

This study is focusing on the campus activity and supporting needs of the visually impaired students who use Braille in higher education in China. The purpose of this study is to obtain the information which is helpful for improving the supporting system and learning environment for students with visual impairment. A survey was performed on 17 students who use Braille. We find out that mobility support and digital braille conversion are most common needs for surveyed students. Personal computer and screen reader are most common assistive devices that students need. The results of this study showed the measures to construct the support system for the visually impaired students based on the rational consideration. Based on the findings from this study, we recommend that universities should focus on providing students with support related to braille version textbooks and support related to extracurricular activities.

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In these days, children with muscular dystrophy (MD) tend to enroll in local elementary schools and junior high schools rather than the health impairment children’s schools. However, it is not clear the enrollment status of children with MD in special needs schools, elementary schools or junior high schools had changed. Therefore, we considered a change in school enrolment of children with MD in schools for children with special needs focused on trend of medical technology and educational policy. According to this, it was suggested that school enrollment statue of children with MD changed after the 1980s, and the number of them in each special needs school including illness special needs schools where the most of them had enrolled have decreased. We regarded two following reasons as this change; The number of children with MD who choose local elementary schools and junior high schools have increased with the promotion of inclusive education and the progress of medical technologies, which are indicated in preceding studies. The number of children with MD have decreased with the spread of genetic diagnosis. Therefore, we need to compare the number of children with MD enrolled in each school to clarify the enrollment status of them, and also examine trends in the medical field such as genetic diagnosis, and changes in the educational system and educational environment.

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