Although children with high-functioning pervasive developmental disorders (HFPDD) may notice that they are different from other children, they may not sufficiently understand what is specifically different about them, which may increase their feeling of loneliness. The present article examined developmental and qualitative differences in feelings of loneliness of children with HFPDD and children who are typically developed by investigating the relationship between competence and loneliness. Children with HFPDD (n=45) and children who are typically developed (n=281) who were at various stages of development completed a loneliness and competence scale. The results suggested that after the higher grades of elementary school, the children with HFPDD were lonelier than the children who are typically developed. The loneliness and competence scores were independent of each other among the children with HFPDD, whereas those scores were significantly negatively correlated in the children who are typically developed. Loneliness in children with HFPDD may be unlike that experienced by children who are typically developed; their loneliness may not be related to psychological conditions, such as appreciating interactions with friends, but rather directly related to physical conditions, such as a lower number of acquaintances. Therefore, both subjective and objective aspects of loneliness must be considered.

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Autism is a defiit of social, communicative, and linguistic function said to be caused by brain dysfunction. We have developed a comprehensive intervention program that focuses on early development of communication. In the present study, the program was implemented 3 hours per week for 4 weeks with a child with autism. A multiple-baseline design was utilized to evaluate effects of the intervention. The results suggested that attention to social stimuli, responding to joint attention (RJA), and imitation skill were improved. Furthermore, the duration of attentiveness, which was not directly taught, improved as well. The findings were discussed in terms of effects of low intensive, short-term treatment for a child with autism.

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The purpose of the present study was to examine the validity of salivary α-Amylase Activity (sAA) as an evaluation index of the activity of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) in children with autism. Participants in the study were 7 boys with autism (mean age, 107±8 months). The participants' sAA, heart rate (HR), and exercise intensity were measured during learning that accompanied physical activity. The data were divided into 2 groups: a high-exercise intensity group and a low-exercise intensity group. The results indicated that both sAA and heart rate rose significantly in the post-learning period compared to the pre-learning period; a significant correlation was observed between the changes in heart rate value and exercise intensity just before measuring the post values. Conversely, a significant correlation was observed between the changes in sAA value and the total amount of exercise during learning, but only in the high exercise intensity group. Recently, sAA has been studied as an index of mental stress. However, the present study, under conditions of sufficient sympathetic nervous system activation, confirmed that sAA is a valid index for the evaluation of the sympathetic nervous system activity of children with autism, and revealed that although sAA and heart rate are both indices of sympathetic nervous system activity, they have different properties.

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The purpose of the present study was to investigate attitudes of teachers in elementary schools toward individual teaching plans (ITP). In order to evaluate teachers' attitudes, elementary school teachers' image of individual teaching plans was investigated using the semantic differential (SD) technique. The following analyses were performed: (a) a factor analysis using the semantic differential scores for individual teaching plans, and (b) a correspondence analysis using the semantic differential scale ratings for 6 concepts: science, Japanese language, period for integrated study, individual teaching plans, jiritsu katsudo (a specialized subject area in the national curriculum for special schools that has the objective of teaching pupils with disabilities to respect basic human behavior) and diagnostic evaluation. Useable data were obtained on questionnaires from 169 teachers from 12 elementary schools. The factor analysis revealed a 3-factor solution: "importance and essence", "expectations after designing individual teaching plans", and "evaluation of procedures". The correspondence analysis revealed that the teachers' images of terms connected with special education were confused, and that the teachers had an image of burden for individual teaching plans. That may be a cause of negative attitudes toward teaching pupils with disabilities in regular classes. Additional study is needed in order to make individual teaching plans in regular classes more effective in elementary schools.

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Verbs with similar meanings were classified into 2 groups: general verbs that are used for various purposes (e.g., "move"), and specific verbs that are used for a specific purpose (e.g., "jump"), in order to examine some features of verb usage by children who were deaf. Participants included students (n=140) who were deaf and who were attending elementary and junior high schools for students who are deaf, elementary school children with no hearing impairments who were in the 4th to 6th grades (n=245), and junior college students (n=29) with no hearing impairments. The results revealed the following: (a) no developmental change was detected in the use of general verbs by any of the groups of participants; (b) elementary school children who were deaf had difficulty using specific verbs suitable to the context, but those students who were in the higher grades of junior high at the school for students who were deaf used those verbs at nearly the same level as their peers without hearing impairments who were in the middle grades of elementary school; and (c) some similarities were found in the way that the participants who were deaf and those without hearing impairments used specific verbs. The results of the present study suggest that, with some exceptions, children who are deaf are able to continue to develop the ability to use specific verbs in quality and quantity. The ability to use specific verbs properly could be related to their comprehensive language ability.

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The central executive of working memory is assumed to represent functional connectivity between the executive and modulation aspects. The present study examined the hypothesis that the executive aspect of working memory can generate sustained effortful motivation through cognitive load in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), improving their performance as a result of self-generating motivation during working memory tasks. Participants were 7 boys with ADHD who were asked to perform a simple reaction task and another task involving counting target stimuli cumulatively, each of them continuously for 15 min with long interstimulus intervals (ISIs). The results revealed that the cumulative counting affected the boys' performance in time-on-task; the performance of some participants improved, but that of others diminished. This outcome suggests that an optimal load on the executive aspect of working memory can generate sustained effortful motivation (i.e., self-generating motivation) and improve performance. However, adversely, effortful motivation was also reduced and performance diminished in some of the boys with ADHD. The remediational significance of self-generating motivation during working memory in children with ADHD is discussed. Poor working memory performance in children with ADHD can be attributed to not only the executive aspect of working memory but also the motivational aspect. These reciprocal influences between the executive function and motivation in children with ADHD suggest a possible paradigm shift in ADHD research.

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The purpose of the present study was to re-examine the construct validity of the Das-Naglieri Cognitive Assessment System Japanese Edition (CAS-J) with data from the standardization sample for the CAS-J (N=1,201), dividing the sample into 4 age groups: 5-7, 8-10, 11-13, and 14-17. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to compare 4 models: a 1-factor model, a 2-factor model [(PA)(SS)], a 3-factor model [PA(SS)], and a 4-factor model [PASS]. The results from a Χ² test were the smallest at all 4 age groups on a 4-factor model. Indices suggested that the 4-factor PASS model was best/better fit to the CAS-J standardization data in all 4 age groups. It was concluded that the PASS theory of intelligence was confirmed in the Japanese standardization sample. The findings also provided further information about the construct validity of the CAS-J. The present results suggest that the PASS theory of intelligence may be a useful model for Japanese children and adolescents.

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Previous studies have shown that infants are sensitive to ostensive cues such as infant-directed speech (IDS) and infant-directed action (IDA). However, effects of mothers' cues during interactions and effects of ostensive cues on infants with autistic disorder are unknown. The present study measured the frequency and types of mothers' cues in 2 semi-structured conditions (play and eating), with 2 stimuli (liked and disliked) presented simultaneously in each condition, and compared 2 mother-infant dyads, one with an infant with autistic disorder and the other with an infant with typical development. The results indicated that ostensive cues were observed more frequently in the play condition than in the eating condition. The mothers used infant-directed actions and infant-directed speech with infants' disliked objects. Different types of cues were used by the mother of the infant with autistic disorder and the mother of the infant who was developing typically, however, the infants' responses to their mothers' cues were similar. It is possible that mothers choose and use cues for directing infants' attention according to characteristics of their infants. By using optimum cues, ostensive cues might help infants with autistic disorder to direct their attention.

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The present study examines obesity in adolescents with intellectual disabilities from the perspective of the body image and body shape perception of adolescents with intellectual disabilities and their parents. It also aims to obtain basic information that can be put to practical use in health education. The participants in the study, male adolescents with intellectual disabilities (n=39) who were enrolled in a special needs education high school for students with intellectual disabilities, and male high school students without disabilities (n=37) who were enrolled in a regular high school, completed a questionnaire, as did the parents of all the students. The results revealed no significant differences in body image or body shape perception between the parents of the adolescents with intellectual disabilities and the parents of the high school students without intellectual disabilities. In contrast, a significant difference was found in body image and body shape perception between the parents of obese and non-obese adolescents with intellectual disabilities. These differences should be considered when health education is being implemented in high schools and other locations.

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The present study examines developmental changes between elementary and junior high school age children and youth with hearing impairments in the strategies they used for solving mathematical word problems. The research focuses on how developmental changes affect mathematics scores, using specially developed mathematical word problems. In the present study, it was assumed that the problem-solving process includes translation, integration, planning, and execution. The results showed that the elementary school students tended to utilize as their main problem-solving strategy a segment diagram in the integration process, whereas the junior high school students used problem identification in the translation process and a function diagram in the integration process. This suggests that strategies for solving mathematical word problems of students with hearing impairments develop as they progress into higher grades.

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