In the present study, we review previous research on the development of theory of mind in deaf children and the acquisition of sign language by deaf children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; children with D-ASD). Development of theory of mind is closely related to social interactions based on verbal communication. Therefore, deaf children who grew up in families with normal hearing perform poorly on the false-belief task, and exhibit tendencies resembling those of children with ASD. Moreover, difficulties in joint attention and perspective-taking, which are important elements of language acquisition, limit the acquisition of sign language by children with D-ASD regardless of differences in modality. It has been reported, however, that compared to deaf children with typical development (TD), children with high-functioning D-ASD did not exhibit marked differences in the comprehension and production of facial markers indicating the grammar and expressions of sign language, such as negation and question. Similarly, no differences were observed between children with high-functioning D-ASD and deaf children with TD on the Benton Facial Recognition Test. It was thought that when exposed to sign language, children with D-ASD pay more attention to facial expressions than do children with ASD who have normal hearing, and thereby develop a greater ability to recognize facial expressions. These findings offer suggestions regarding the nature of language acquisition and its associated cognitive mechanisms.

This paper shows an introduction to the new concept of education for children with congenital deafblindness. The co-creating communication paradigm is based on the assumption that the communication development of congenital deafblind children is the same as that of persons who can see and hear, but under different circumstances: without seeing and hearing. This paradigm focuses four fundamental patterns of interaction. 1) Co-regulation of proximity and distance within co-created greeting –rituals 2) Co-regulation of explorative ventures and explorative sequences 3) Co-regulation of motion and emotion in co-created rituals of social interactive play 4) Co-creation of shared vocabularies and shared meaning in co-regulated communicative sequences. The episode related shared meaning was examined through video analysis in micro. A congenital deafblind child used the gesture as a part of a communicative interaction. It was important to think these interaction as a process of negotiation not as a teaching-learning process. Based on the examination above, the issues of transition to the cultural language and relevancy to sign language were considered.

Oshika et al (2014) suggested that 37.4% of Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing children had developmental disorders-like difficulties. This figure may include secondary difficulties due to hearing impairment. However, it seems to be a higher than that of hearing children (6.5%). Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing children with Learning Disabilities may show some hardship in their language usages. High image representation of the sign language may support them to develop the network through their language, and to understand Japanese grammar. Deaf or Hardof-Hearing children with Autism Spectrum Disorder sometimes have difficulties in communication achievement because of unique expression of their sign language, and weakness of the situation understanding and metacognition. It will be useful for them to learn how to talk with the other party into their consideration, to device how to SST (Four-panel cartoon, use of video).

In recent years, since the approval of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Japan has been working on enacting corresponding laws for disabled people in the country. Great efforts are being made to involve disabled people in the law-making process, including involving deaf people in the process of passing sign language ordinances. However, to date, the laws for sign language ordinances have been made without the attendance of deaf people. Therefore, we must clarify hearing people’s understanding of sign language without the involvement of deaf people. This research aims to identify how decision making for sign language ordinances should be conducted by interviewing senators and other related personnel involved in the formulation of sign language ordinances in Gunma Prefecture. On one hand, senators are obviously responsible for making these ordinances. On the other hand, it is clear that they would like to better understand deaf people and sign language and feel that it is necessary to involve deaf people in the law-making process. Differences in the understanding of sign language between senators and deaf people may become a barrier to formulating sign language ordinances.