The data for the early-style Japan Fitness Test, which was implemented before 1998, have been collected and evaluated for every decade for students from schools for the Deaf in Japan. The collected data were compared with the age-matched national standard values provided by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The motor fitness of the students from the schools for the Deaf tended to be lower than that of the students with normal hearing. This was a common finding for all studies. No relationship was observed between motor fitness and hearing levels in the results obtained for the schools for the Deaf. Since the new Japan Fitness Test has been implemented in 1998, it has been used for both students from the deaf schools and hearing-impaired students who are registered at elementary schools. The school system was reformed after an amendment to the School Education Law was enacted in 2007. This reform will create new focus areas for research. Under visual support conditions, no significant differences were noted between the balance test results for the subjects with normal hearing and the hearing-impaired subjects. However, under conditions where there was no visual support, hearing-impaired subjects were significantly lower for maintaining balanced posture. These results indicate the visual superiority of individuals with hearing impairment over that of individuals with normal hearing. Furthermore, dynamic visual acuity may be superior for deaf athletes and for college students with hearing impairment. Further studies should focus on the characteristics of visual function in athletes and in students with hearing impairment during physical activity.

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The purpose of this study was to elucidate the improvement of the overhand throwing motion for children in special needs education classes of elementary school. And to examine the feasibility of similar learning resources for them, the baton throwing method was used to learn overhand throwing motion. The subjects were 4 children with intellectual disabilities aged 8 to 11 years, and two children with autistic spectrum aged 7 and 8 years. The improvement of the overhand throwing motion was assessed via the "achievement score" for the throwing motion evaluation standard, and by analyzing the throwing motion with VTR and measuring the throw distance. Before the first non-treatment period, four children had improved but two children didn't have improved, their average "achievement score" from 18.2 points to 20.3 points. Four children increased but two children decreased, their average throwing distance from 476.8cm to 537.2cm. After the first non-treatment period, the following teaching adaptations for overhand throwing were made based on each individual's needs. 1. Setting a target and using a sound effect to increase the swing speed of the arm. 2. Offering advice to achieve a rhythmic and smooth overhand throwing motion. 3. Preparing a mark which indicates the release point when throwing a ball. After these adapted sessions, all children had improved their average "achievement score" from 20.3 points to 28.0 points. All children increased their average throwing distance from 537.2cm to 640.8cm.

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To clarify factors affecting motor actions in children with intellectual disabilities, relationships between three aspects of motor actions, such as speed, accuracy and carefulness, and chronological age (CA), intelligence quotient (IQ), clinical type (Down syndrome, autism) were investigated. The subjects were 54 children with intellectual disabilities (mean age 15.0 years, mean IQ 46.7, 11 children with Down's syndrome and 14 children with autism). We conducted two motor tasks, such as a seal affixation task and tray carrying task. The seal affixation task is fine motor task which can separately measure the speed and accuracy, and the tray carrying task is gross motor task which can separately measure the speed and carefulness. The results were as follows: (a) the relationship between motor actions and CA was not clear. (b) The subject's IQ was clearly related to the accuracy of motor action. (c) The clinical type was clearly related to the speed of motor actions, i.e., persons with Down syndrome were slow. However, the relationship between motor actions and autism was not clear.

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The aim of this study was to outline the components of an educational program that raised interest in adapted physical activities among students majoring in Physical Education. Participants were divided into two groups; a PE group (60 students majoring in P.E.) and a non-PE group (60 students majoring in other subjects). All participants completed a questionnaire that included 20 items on "Interest in Adapted Physical Activities" (IAPA), eight items on "Significance of Adapted Physical Activities," and eight items on "Interest in General Physical Activities" (IGPA). Results of ANOVA indicated that IGPA item scores of the PE group were statistically higher than scores of the non-PE group. In addition, multiple regression analysis identified common IAPA factors as well as factors that differed between the two groups. Overall, these results reveal the necessity of programs that increase IAPA and promote an awareness of sports and disabilities.

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