The “Plan to Promote the Prevention of Recidivism” approved by the Cabinet in December 2017 cites the need for effective guidance in prisons taking the developmental characteristics of inmates into account. On the other hand, under the current system, most prisons have difficulty with just getting a grasp on the actual situation regarding developmental characteristics, particularly given the high rates of over-crowding in addition to the aging of inmates in womenʼs prisons progressing at a greater pace than in general society. And with the majority of inmates suffering from extremely difficult-to-treat symptoms such as after-effects of stimulant use, reactions to maltreatment including sexual abuse, and eating disorders, providing effective guidance tailored to their developmental characteristics is highly difficult. The authors used the “Model Projects of Regional Support of Womenʼs Facilities (hereafter model project)” implemented in 2014 by the Ministry of Justice in light of this situation, and conducted support accounting for the characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (hereafter ASD), for inmates suspected of having ASD. In this report, the authors present two such cases alongside introduction of how a seamless support system was developed using the “model project”, ending with review of the two case studies, in terms of the commonalities and limitations of this endeavor.

Objective: Though various investigations have been conducted on student support systems for children with developmental disorders within the regular school system, they have for most part been limited to demonstrations of the extent of implementation within schools. Therefore, a questionnaire was administered to medical personnel to examine the present state of student support systems for children requiring special education within the regular school system to determine adequacy of the support and instruction being provided.

Methods: Questionnaires were mailed to 871 physicians and 384 speech therapists (ST) and responses were obtained from 283 doctors and 122 STs (a return rate of 32%).

Results: The results revealed that only 23% of medical personnel considered both instruction and the regular classroom environment adequate for students with developmental disorders. Regarding reasons why children with special needs were not getting needed support, the medical personnel cited “lack in teacher understanding of special education” (72%) and “lack of resource rooms” (71%). Among the doctors, 71% reported experience of changing a childʼs diagnosis of developmental disorder from negative to positive (24% frequently and 47% rarely). Conversely, 58% of the doctors reported retracting diagnoses of developmental disorder at some later point in time (15% frequently and 43% rarely).

Discussion: These results indicate that special education faces challenges not only in preparing suitable educational environments but in enhancing understanding of children with developmental disorders among teaching staff. As conveyed by the majority of doctors with experience of changing established diagnoses, even if infrequent, teachers should acknowledge that the behavior of children with developmental disorders undergo change with development, necessitating continuous revision in the manner of providing support tailored to the changing needs of each to child.