The purpose of this study is to investigate the performance and development of Braille reading (speed of reading) in blind children. As the subjects, 572 blind children from grade 1 to 9 in schools for the blind were used. They were given the Braille reading test (speed reading) devised by the author. The results of the investigation demonstrated that the speed of Braille reading increased quite significantly during the first four grades, and the high rate of development gradually redused after the 4th grade. The accuracy of reading Braille became increasingly higher until the 4th grade, and after that, it maintained the level of over 90%. In comparison with the reading speed of printed material with non-handicapped subjects, the time to read the same information was 3.2 to 4.3 as long. This results is similar to the study the author conducted in 1966. However, the higher performance level of first grade subjects in this study suggests that the earlier training had taken place in kindergarten.

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The purpose of this study is to clarify the inclination of thin in the mutural interaction between the mother and the infant of speech retarded during 4 months after birth by means of retrospective mehtod of interview comparing the speech retarded group including 30 children of 3 years old with the normal group of the same age in which 30 kindergarten children and 30 nursery school children were contained. The questionair including 90 items concerning the mutural interaction were handled and filled up to each mother in both groups in case of interview. The inclination of mutural interaction between the mother and the speech retarded were found as follows; 1) The mother's "vocal utterance" to their infants were few even in case of crying and babbling for their mothers. 2) We could not find any infants' imitation behaviors to their mothers' vocalization, and the mothers were not aware of these findings because of their busy works. 3) The mothers were used to take care of urine automatically without speech. Besides, the significent difference of the mother-infant interaction between the high educational level group and the low one seems to be obtained to clarify the more close interaction to infant in case of former group in terms of X square analysis.

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In my previous study published in this journal, it was developed that the responses of the children with Down's syndrome for tactual and visual discrimination performed by using the same sensory modality were effected by different presentations of the stimulus figures. The purpose of this study is to examine whether the discrimination of different sensory modalities of the children with Down's syndrome, that transfers from one sensory modality to another, is effected by different presentations of the stimulus figures. Two experiments were conducted. Experiment I deals with the condition of successive presentation: the subject observes tactually (or visually) a stimulus figure and then discriminates the same stimulus figure visually (or tactually) from among several figures. Experiment II deals with the condition of simultaneous presentation: simultaneously observing the stimulus figure tactually (or visually), the subject discriminates visually (or tactually) a figure similar to the stimulus figure among three figures hidden in a box. In this discrimination task, nine geometrical figures made of plastics were provided as experimental material: circle (in diameter 9cm), square (in side 8cm), cross shaped (vertically and horizontally 9cm and in width 3cm), isosceles triangle (in height 7cm, in base 14cm), semicircle (in diameter 12cm), diamond (in long axis 11cm and in short axis 8cm), rectangle (in length 7cm, in width 10cm), ellipse long diameter 11cm, short diameter 8cm) and quadrilateral (each of four sides 9.5cm, 8.8cm, 6.3cm, 6.3cm). The number of the subject was 44 children with Down's syndrome, 44 Non-Down's syndrome children, and 44 normal children. The subjects of each group were separated into two groups of Experiment I and Experiment II according to the different condition of stimulus presentation. After that again, the subjects of two experimental groups were divided into two subgroups (11 in each) by the procedure of the combination condition of observation and discrimination. Both groups of Down's syndrome and Non-Down's syndrome were matched in MA and IQ and the average CA of normal children was equaled to the MA of Down's syndrome. The perfomances in children with Down's syndrome were compared with those made by both Non-Down's syndrome children and normal children. The experiment was conducted individually without time limit. The results were as follows. The number of correct responses was used as response measures. 1) For the condition of successive presentation in Experiment I, the children with Down's syndrome were inferior to the normal children and Non-Down's syndrome in both tactual-visual and visual-tactual condition. 2) For the condition of simultaneous presentation, there was no significant difference in both conditions with any of the three groups. From the results mentioned above, it will be suggested that on the task of the condition of simultaneous presentation the children with Down's syndrome are as good as Non-Down's syndrome and normal children, and that, there is some difficulty of discrimination under the condition of successive presentation.

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Although finger pletysmograph is under control of the autonomic nervous system, it also reflects activity of the central nervous system. Studies on the spontaneous fluctuation of the pletysmograph from the point of view of special education have been scarce. The purpose of this study was to investigate spontaneous fluctuation of pletysmograph in mental retardation. Subjects were 15 in the normal group, (Mean: CA. 17 years, 9 months) and 40 in the mentally retardates group (15 ys, 7 ms). Mental retardates were divided into three subgroups, of which 14 were of pathological type, 13 of unknown type, 13 of the Down's syndrome type. Pletysmograph was recorded 15 minutes during resting state under which there was no stimulus. A mini-computer was used for analysis of a continuous record during 300 sec, and calculation of the relative amplitude value. The results were as follows: (1) Distribution span of amplitude histogram was greater in the normal group than in the mental retardates. (2) Coefficient of variation (CV) in amplitude was smaller than that of the normal group. (3) The pathololgical type had the narrowest span of distribution and smallest CV. (4) Analysis of time series by 30 sec. also showed poor variation in mental retardates. (5) Presence of non-corresponding points between CV and amplitude was significant in unknown type group. Validity of the processing method of spontaneous fluctuation is pointed out and characteristics of pletysmographic activity in mental retardation are discussed.

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In 1954, the United States Supreme Court declared that education is the most important function of state and local government and that the doctorine of "separate but equal" is false. Many commentators have insisted that the Brown decision was the base on the litigation of education for handicapped children, progressed the equal educational oppotunity, and supported mainstreaming. No proof, however, was offered that these comments were true. It is the purpose of this study to make clear the influences of the Brown decision on education for handicapped children through the court cases regarding it as a precedent. The following results were pointed out; 1. Of 173 court cases, there were 15 cases regarding the Brown decision as a precedent. 2. The precedent value of the Brown decision was concerened with (1) the importance of education, (2) equal protection, and (3) judicial activism. 3. The Brown decision, in general, had an important role on the litigation on education for handicapped children.

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