This study examines whether local processing in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is related to both attention and perception. Thirteen children with ASD and 20 normative controls completed a selective attention task involving Navon stimuli, in the active attention task and a priming task involving facial stimuli with spatial frequency (SF) filtering as primes in the unconscious perception task. In the selective attention task, children with ASD showed slower responses to both global and local conditions, and fewer correct responses for the global condition than the controls. Results suggest that children with ASD exhibit biased processing towards local information. In the priming task, controls responded faster and more accurate in the low-SF primed stimuli condition compared to the high-SF one, but children with ASD did not show response differences between low- and high-SF conditions. Thus, children with ASD exhibit enhanced local processing in perception. As regards to both attention and perception, children with ASD showed local processing advantage compared with controls.

The first aim of this study was to examine the Japanese Checklist for Possible Cluttering ver.2 (JCPC ver.2) for children who stutter (CWS), and to validate the items that construct JCPC ver.2 for the definitive differentiation of stuttering from cluttering. The second aim was to estimate a norm score for distinguishing stuttering and cluttering using JCPC ver.2. The third aim was to propose a draft version of JCPC ver.3, provided any item elimination was suggested through the validation process. In this study, the utility of JCPC ver.2 was examined in 237 CWS. Study results identified three factors including disorganized speech/language output related items, inattention and dyssynchrony related items, and poor language planning related items. These three identified factors were related to the language automatization deficit model (van Zaalen & Reichel, 2015). As four items showed low factor loading that was below 0.30 after a Varimax rotation, they were removed from JCPC ver.3 (draft). A more sensitive version of the JCPC checklist is required in future to differentiate cluttering from stuttering.

People with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are reportedly more prone to injury, especially nonfatal injuries such as sprains and strains of joints and adjacent muscles. However, the reasons underlying the increased incidence of injuries remain unclear. This preliminary study was conducted to elucidate attention mechanisms under circumstances that demand both visual search and walking, and those mechanisms’ relation to ADHD tendency in young adults. For this study, 30 young adults performed a walking cancellation task (involving visual search and walking) and a pointing cancellation task (involving visual search). Each task had two conditions manipulated for difficulty in terms of the target-to-distractor (TD) ratio. Results showed that (a) cancelling efficiency of the walking cancellation task was lower, (b) cancelling efficiency with a smaller TD ratio was remarkably lower in the walking cancellation task, and (c) ADHD tendency was correlated with cancelling efficiency only in the more difficult condition of the walking cancellation task. These results suggest that a threshold exists for attention demand, beyond which performance deteriorates extraordinarily when engaging in visual searches while walking.

This article explores the quality of life (QOL) of people with intellectual disabilities (ID) in Denmark by reviewing literatures on the Danish welfare system and legislation relevant to social services delivery. First, current levels of support and the living conditions of people with ID in Denmark, which are affected by legislation and social services, were examined. Subsequently, recent studies on the QOL of Danish individuals with/without ID were reviewed. People with ID receive significant welfare provisions, which guarantee a normal living standard akin to that of ordinary Danish citizens. Nevertheless, recent reforms have gradually impacted individuals’ lives, particularly young people, including a lack of employment opportunities and lower social security. Recent studies on the QOL of Danes with ID have indicated the importance of improving professional support for this group. General QOL surveys have documented high satisfaction levels amongst the Danish population; however, there are limited studies of QOL assessment for people with ID. In the future, studies on QOL in Denmark should involve individuals with ID to understand their personal perspectives.

The present study aimed to report on how schools responded after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 from the perspective of school management and to discuss crisis management and disaster prevention systems for special needs schools. This survey discovered that four schools served as shelters in one form or another. Yet, none of the schools had stockpile of food and school staff therefore made every effort to address the issues of food, water, blankets, and sanitation. A review of crisis management and disaster prevention systems for children with special needs should be undertaken in cooperation with government administrative offices.

Ryoichi ISHII (1867–1937) was the founder of Takinogawa Gakuen, the first school for the intellectually disabled in Japan. He started his teaching career at Rikkyo Women’s School while also managing Tokyo Kyuikuin, a boarding primary school for orphans. The following year, however, a great earthquake hit the Gifu and Aichi regions, and Ryoichi established a boarding school for girls orphaned by the earthquake. One of the girls he rescued was intellectually disabled. To learn about the best ways to educate this girl, he traveled to the U.S. for research in 1896. On returning, he reformed the Kojogakuin into Takinogawa Gakuen, a boarding school for intellectually disabled children of both sexes, funded almost entirely through donations. After moving twice into bigger and better locations, Takinogawa Gakuen evolved into a comprehensive organization serving students of all ages and with any severity of disability. In 1934, he became the first chairman of what is now the Japanese Association on Intellectual Disability. One of his personal mottos was “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” from the Holy Bible.