The aim of the present study was to examine whether repeated retrieval during studying could lead to better promotion of long-term retention compared to repeated hearing, not only for young children without delayed vocabulary understanding but also for young children with delayed vocabulary understanding. The participants in the study, 30 children, 15 of whom (8 boys, 7 girls, mean age 68.4 months) had delayed vocabulary understanding and the other 15 of whom were a control group (9 boys, 6 girls, mean age 70 months), experienced repeated retrieval / hearing, and then were tested 5 minutes and 4 hours later. The results were as follows: (a) the performance of the delayed group was worse than that of the control group, irrespective of the retention interval and study condition, and (b) an intervening repeated retrieval led to better memory performance on the tests 5 minutes and 4 hours later in both groups, compared to repeated hearing of the same materials for the same amount of time. These results suggest that repeated retrieval appeared to have a powerful effect on long-term retention in these young children's memory, even including children with delayed vocabulary understanding.

View full abstract

The present study investigated strategies for inferring emotional states from contradictory cues in a sentence. The participants, 3 boys (aged 9 years 10 months, 10 years 2 months, and 14 years 7 months) with developmental disabilities were presented a sentence containing 3 cues: situation, facial expression, and action, with contradictory emotions (e.g., happy and sad). They were then asked what the emotional state of the character in the sentence was and the reason for their answer. In the training phase, responses reconciling the emotionally contradictory cues were reinforced with prompts, whereas other responses were extinguished. Eventually, all participants came to reconcile the emotionally contradictory cues; they adjusted their strategy to the presence or absence of feedback. These results suggest that the participants' strategies for inferring emotional states from contradictory stimuli were affected both by characteristics of the children's developmental disabilities and by the listener's responses.

View full abstract

The purposes of the present study were to analyze the structure of cooperation between elementary school teachers in charge of resource rooms and teachers in charge of regular classes, and to explore the relation between the teachers' cooperation and their methods of exchange of information. Participants in the study were 125 resource room teachers who completed questionnaires that were distributed to 93 schools that had resource rooms in 5 prefectures in the area of Japan referred to as Hokushin'etsu (Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Nagano, and Niigata prefectures). Exploratory factor analysis revealed a 4-factor solution. The factors were daily sharing of information about children with regular class teachers, practical use and report of information about children that was obtained from regular class teachers, sharing teaching goals and assessments of the children, and providing information to regular class teachers at the beginning. Comparisons of scores on each of the scales by those teachers making practical use of notebooks as a method of information exchange and those who did not use notebooks revealed significant differences on several of the factors. In addition, comparison of scores on each of the scales between the teachers using case conferences and those not doing so revealed significant differences on all 4 factors.

View full abstract

The present study aimed to shed light on parents' evaluations of educational and medical support for their children with mucopolysaccharidosis (an inherited metabolic disorder). Parents (N=57) who had school-aged children with mucopolysaccharidosis and attended a Japanese mucopolysaccharidosis parents' meeting completed questionnaires. About 40% of the parents indicated that children with mucopolysaccharidosis needed support in academic subjects, and about 70% that such children needed support in gymnastics. The parents reported their concern about educational and health support, but few indicated that they were teaching their children self-management skills. Teachers and parents of children with mucopolysaccharidosis should support their children's health, but they expect the children to manage their own health according to the children's developmental stage. Because this is a progressive disease, the number of children with mucopolysaccharidosis who are enrolled in special education schools increases as the children's age increases. Some parents reported that they had transferred their children to other schools because sufficient medical care was not provided at the special education school where their children had been registered. Medical care needs to be improved substantially in special education schools so that children who need care can receive it.

View full abstract

The present study aimed to examine the utilization of contextual cues for recognition of environmental sounds by adults who were hard of hearing or had some degree of deafness, with a focus on the relation between the ability to identify environmental sounds from auditory cues and the ability to guess environmental sounds from visual contextual cues. Participants (20 adults who were hard of hearing or somewhat deaf) completed 2 tasks: (a) an auditory task that required them to identify environmental sounds from auditory stimuli, and (b) a visual task that required them to guess environmental sounds from images of daily situations (e.g., kitchen, living room, road intersection). A strong correlation was expected between performance on the auditory and visual tasks. However, no correlation was obtained between participants' performance on the 2 tasks. That is, participants were able to guess environmental sounds from visual contextual cues, in spite of failing to identify the same sounds from auditory stimuli. Since the participants, all of whom had some level of difficulty hearing, had the ability to guess environmental sounds from visual contextual cues, this suggests that some of them may not have utilized contextual cues because they were not able to associate sounds with the corresponding auditory imagery. Further research is needed that examines processes underlying the association between environmental sounds and auditory imagery in people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

View full abstract

The present study involved group work, based on the school social work view of problem-solving through cooperation between students and school officials. The aim was to use the group work to encourage career development by part-time high school students who require special consideration. Participants, 4 part-time high school students who wanted to work after graduation and who had difficulty with interpersonal relations and development, took part in all 40 rounds of group work that were offered. Interactions among the students, which were carried out through specific work experiences, had the goal of encouraging their career development. Initially, the students had passive attitudes and only a minimal relationship with each other. As they began to participate in the group work, their self-understanding deepened, as did their mutual understanding. The students expressed their concrete hopes for the group work, and began to participate actively in the work experiences. One student's difficulties that had been latent surfaced through the group work, and he began to consider the use of the disability employment system. By choosing the participants' work-experience destination according to their needs, and by cooperating with related institutions, a network was formed that was based on shared feelings among the participants, the school staff, and people in the community. The discussion deals with the importance of the interactions between the participants and the regional network for supporting the aim of social vocational independence.

View full abstract

Because occupational therapy approaches in special needs education are gradually increasing, the rules and effects of occupational therapy in special needs education should be explained. The participant in the present study was a 13-year-old boy diagnosed with Down's syndrome and a moderate intellectual disability. In the present intervention, an occupational therapist (OT) and teachers at a special needs school evaluated the student's school tasks using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) and the School version of the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (School AMPS), discussed plans and goals for the student, and sought to improve his performance on school tasks. After the teachers and the occupational therapist collaborated, the boy's performance improved and reached goals that had been set for him. This result may have been achieved from the clarification of his problems concerning school tasks in a modified environment, and by having his goals and the intervention for enhanced task performance decided through the collaboration of the teachers and the occupational therapist. The discussion suggests that the role of occupational therapists in special needs education is to address occupational needs of students in school environments through collaboration with teachers, and that a well-organized intervention model should be established so that occupational therapists can be involved in the activities of special needs schools.

View full abstract