The aim of the present study was to examine background factors of non-attainment on a test of special notations in Japanese in relation to low performance on tests of phonological awareness, verbal short-term memory, and fluent searching of words printed in hiragana. The participants were 1,373 elementary school students from 6 schools in Tokyo. The test of special notations included items on hatsu-on (pronunciation), soku-on (double consonants), yo-on (2-kana syllables), and yocho-on (long vowels). Many of the children whose performance was in the 10th percentile of total scores on the test of special notations also made more errors on the hatsu-on and soku-on tasks, compared to the children whose performance was in the 11th to 20th percentile. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis indicated that the children whose results were at approximately the 10th percentile on the test of special notations were likely to be children who had been judged by their classroom teachers in the 1st and 3rd grades as having special educational needs with respect to special notations. The children whose performance was below the 10th percentile on the special notations test had lower performance on the less frequently used yo-on and yocho-on words compared to words used more frequently in first-grade Japanese-language-class textbooks. This suggests that the children whose performance was at the 10th percentile might not have applied the rules of constructing special notations to acquire yo-on and yocho-on, but, instead, relied on their experience of learning notation and sound as paired associates. An analysis of background factors of those children whose results showed non-attainment of special notations indicated that relatively common factors were found for each type of special notation. For the 1st graders, a low function of phonological awareness was a background factor. For the 2nd and 3rd graders, low performance on hiragana word-searching tests and verbal short-term memory were background factors. These results suggest that supportive instruction that considers children's background factors might be an effective way to teach them special notation.

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Chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome includes spatial cognitive impairments which, in particular, influence copying ability. The present study examined the copying ability of an 11-year-old boy with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome who was attending a regular elementary school class. His full-scale IQ was 74; his verbal subtest score was higher than his nonverbal score. His scores on the Developmental Test of Visual Perception (DTVP) were lower on all items compared to normally developing children. In the present study, the boy's performance on copying tasks was compared to that of 6 control children with intellectual disabilities (IQ 56-76). The copying tasks included the Bender-Gestalt Test (BGT), cube copying, and drawing. Despite the boy having a somewhat higher full-scale IQ, his performance on the Bender-Gestalt Test showed greater impairment than that of the control children did. This finding suggests that he may have difficulty in recognizing forms, especially copying a picture constructed of local stimuli, and in inhibiting cognition in these copying tasks. Based on these results, it was proposed that, when copying, the boy should confirm the characteristics of forms using words, and should direct his attention to the object being copied.

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The purpose of the present study was to examine emotional and behavioral problems of students with mild intellectual disabilities who were enrolled in the high school section of a special needs school for students with intellectual disabilities. The results from the Teacher's Report Form (TRF) of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) revealed that almost 50% of these students were reported to have emotional and behavior problems. The graduates of local junior high schools had more emotional and behavioral problems than did the graduates of related special needs schools. In addition, the female students were reported to have more emotional and behavioral problems than the male students. These results suggest that education courses, methods, and curriculum for high school students with mild intellectual disabilities should be reexamined.

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Effective methods of home recording that might facilitate behavioral changes in parents receiving consultation have not yet been clarified. The present study examined the effectiveness of 2 methods by which the mother of a boy with autism spectrum disorder who had developed behavioral problems at home recorded her son's behavior. The goal of the consultation was to provide independent support and help in the adjustment of the mother. The interventions that were introduced successively were (a) having the mother record only her son's behavior, and (b) have her record both her own and her son's behavior. The results indicated that during the latter intervention, the procedures were implemented correctly, and the son's behavioral problems decreased. Moreover, even when the procedures were returned to the former intervention, the frequency of her son's behavioral problems remained low. Next, the process of behavioral change was analyzed from the perspective of the behavior contingency of the mother. The results indicated that the mother had developed appropriate self-rules for dealing with her son by implementing ABC recording of her son's behavior, as well as changing the environment. These results suggest that the intervention might have facilitated the improvement in his behavior.

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The present practical study examined the effectiveness of tracing and copying training for improving the handwriting of a 26-year-old man with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disabilities. In the training program, stage 1 was a tracing stage, because tracing, combined with copying, had been found in previous research to be effective in improving the handwriting of children with typical development. Stage 2 was copying, because copying had been found in previous research to improve the handwriting skills of children with typical development. The design was baseline (pre-baseline and post-baseline), tracing stage, copying stage, and a follow-up measurement 3 months after the end of training, in order to be able to evaluate the retention of what had been learned. The results showed that there was no measureable improvement in his handwriting after the tracing stage. However, significant improvements were found after the copying stage, and the improvements in his handwriting were found to have been maintained when measured 3 months later. This suggests that copying may be a good way to improve handwriting skills not only for children with typical development, but also for adults with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disabilities.

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