The present research explored reaching and visual attention in the exploratory behavior of 3 children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities (SMID). The participants, 2 boys and 1 girl (boys'ages: 8 years, and 6 years 11 months; girl's age: 7 years 3 months), were able to sit with support and move their arms. First, the time that it took for their visual recognition of objects that had been hidden was measured. The number of objects presented varied from 3 to 9, depending on the child's cognitive level and ability to move. The results suggested that the location of the objects may have been an important factor in whether they drew a child's attention. The relation between repetitive reaching actions and the time to recognize an object was then investigated. These results suggested that the experience of reaching may have contributed greatly to the promptness of these children's recognition of an object. Reaching may enhance a specifıc distribution of cognitive ability. Furthermore, closer attention to location may improve the possibility of a child meeting someone's gaze.

It is generally believed that hospitalized children have insuffıcient hands-on learning experiences. The present authors were able to identify only a few published surveys of hands-on learning in in-hospital classes, and effects of hands-on learning on the children in those classes were not clear. The present study reports a questionnaire survey of the current state of hands-on learning activities in in-hospital classes and effects of those activities on the students. Participants were the teachers of 130 in-hospital classes (62 special classes, 41 elementary school classes, and 27 middle school classes). The results showed that 43.4% of the responding teachers provided nature experiences, such as feeding animals and cultivating plants; 55.8%, social experiences, such as visiting places outside of the hospital or inviting experts and volunteers to the hospital; and 60.5%, activities utilizing resources of the hospital. Fewer activities were provided in the junior high school classes than at the other educational levels. The teachers reported that hands-on learning increased the children's motivation to learn and improved their health. Information and communication technologies (ICT), such as tablet computers, were considered especially useful for children who are vulnerable to infections. The data from the survey suggest that hands-on learning may be effective for children in in-hospital classes. The educational environment should be arranged so that all children can learn actively.

The present study examined whether Japanese-speaking children with selective mutism have problems with language and communication competence. The caregivers of 32 Japanese-speaking children with selective mutism who had not been diagnosed as having autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or intellectual disabilities (MR), and who were from preschool to junior high school age, completed the Japanese version of the CCC-2 (Children's Communication Checklist-Second Edition) and the SMQ-R (Selective Mutism Questionnaire-Revised). The results were as follows: (a) 16 of the children were reported to have problems with language and communication competence, scores of 4 of them were lower than the 3rd percentile on the GCC (General Communication Composite), scores of 13 were lower than the 5th percentile on more than 2 subscales, 2 children had articulation disorders, and 2 stuttered. (b) Scores of 10 of the children were lower than the 5th percentile on subscale H (nonverbal communication), and of 13 of the children, on subscale I (social relations). (c) As a consequence of the children being classifıed on the basis of their scores on the GCC and SIDC (Social Interaction Deviance Composite), 1 child appeared to have a specifıc language impairment (SLI), 7 appeared to have pragmatic language impairments (PLI), and 4 of the children appeared to have autism spectrum disorders (ASD). (d) No signifıcant correlation was found between the children's scores on the General Communication Composite and the Selective Mutism Questionnaire-Revised. These results suggest that about half of Japanese-speaking children with selective mutism may have problems with language and communication competence, particularly during pragmatic or social interactions.

In the present study, 2 graduate students (23 and 24 years old) without prior experience in consultation were trained in behavioral consultation. The students were assigned cases with consultees who presented fıctitious cases, and interviewed the consultees once every 2 months for about 1 year. The consultation training program included reading related literature, live modeling of appropriate behavior, performance feedback, and video self-monitoring plus feedback. A quasi-experimental design was employed to evaluate changes in behavior consultation skills and interpersonal skills in a role-play situation, using a consultant evaluation questionnaire designed by the fırst author. In addition, after the conclusion of the consultation, the consultees rated their satisfaction with the graduate students' performance. The results suggested that this consultation training program may have been effective for improving the students' behavioral consultation skills and interpersonal skills. The consultees' ratings of consumer satisfaction were also favorable. It appeared that the performance feedback and the video self-monitoring plus feedback were especially effective aspects of the training program, in terms of the acquisition of consultation skills and the consultees' evaluations. On the other hand, differences in the effects of the training between the 2 students were also observed. That suggests that somewhat more customized training might be more effective. A limitation of the present study was the small number of participants. Further research should include more participants.

The present study aimed to clarify teachers' decision making processes in team teaching lessons, and to improve the lesson of Jiritsu-Katsudo, a unique instructional fıeld of special needs education schools. The participants were 2 teachers at a special needs education school for children with physical disabilities. Their lesson plans were studied twice. The fırst time, based on previous research, discrepancies in the teachers' decision making between the teachers' plans and the reality of the children's behavior were clarifıed. The results showed discrepancies in the teachers' decision making process, and an analysis suggested that it was necessary to redesign the teaching plan. The second time, in redesigning the teaching plan, the teachers adopted speaking aloud interactively as a method that might be effective for communicating their intentions to one another. This change was a result of the introduction of a different approach to teachers' decision making. Given that there are various forms of team teaching, different types should be examined in future studies.

Recently, academic researchers and practitioners have expressed increased interest in studying children with motor diffıculties or motor clumsiness, that is, children with developmental coordination disorders (DCD). Many children with developmental disorders such as intellectual disabilities (ID) and autism spectrum disorders (ADS) also have motor diffıculties. Nevertheless, few studies published in Japan have examined this topic. The present article reviews the nature of motor diffıculties of children with developmental disabilities and presents some intervention principles. In general, children with intellectual disabilities perform less well on standardized motor assessments such as the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (MABC-2), which provides scores for 3 motor ability sub-components: manual dexterity, aiming and catching, and balance, and yields a combined component score (total score). Children with autism spectrum disorders have lower total scores on this test battery, suggesting that their general level of motor skill may be different from that of typically developing children. Motor diffıculties are also reported frequently not only on the basis of scores on objective motor skill assessment tests, but also from parents' reports on questionnaires such as the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire-2007 (DCDQ-2007). Future research should examine the heterogeneity of motor diffıculties in children with developmental disabilities.