The present cross-sectional survey research examined self-evaluations of developmental characteristics by early adolescents with chronic illnesses. The participants, students with chronic illnesses (11 to 14 years old, 5th graders to 10th graders from 135 schools) and students at the same grade levels without chronic illnesses completed the Japanese version of Harter's (1985) Self-Perception Profıle for Children. The scale scores of the students with chronic illnesses were compared to those of the students without chronic illnesses. The results indicated that the students with chronic illnesses had lower scholastic competence, friendship, and behavioral conduct scores, and lower overall importance rating scores than the comparison students did. The behavioral conduct and physical appearance scores in the importance ratings of the junior high school students with chronic illnesses were lower than those of the comparison junior high school students. Furthermore, the junior high school students with chronic illnesses had lower self-esteem scores than did the elementary school students with chronic illnesses. The results also indicated that the junior high school students with chronic illnesses had lower self-esteem scores than the students at the same grade level who did not have chronic illnesses. A signifıcant correlation was found in the scores of the students with chronic illnesses between self-esteem and competence in unimportant domains. However, in the scores of the students who did not have chronic illnesses, no signifıcant correlation was found on these variables. These results suggest that teachers and parents should pay attention to the self-evaluations of early adolescents with chronic illnesses and promote success experiences, because such experiences can be an important source of self-esteem. In addition, psychoeducational intervention programs should be offered to early adolescents with chronic illnesses in order to prevent these students from developing reduced self-esteem.

The present research investigated differences in tasks and challenges faced by Special Needs Coordinators at regular schools who specialized only in that position, and Special Needs Coordinators who concurrently held other positions in addition to being Special Needs Coordinators. A questionnaire was mailed to 1,000 specialized and non-specialized Special Needs Coordinators who were employed at 251 public kindergartens, 249 elementary schools, 251 middle schools, and 249 high schools mainly in eastern and also central Japan. From the 478 questionnaires returned, the 413 valid replies (41.3% of the total mailed) were used for the analysis. Analysis of variance of the responses on those questionnaires revealed the following results: (a) regardless of school level, specialized Special Needs Coordinators reported that they communicated more frequently with other teachers at their schools, understood the students' actual conditions better, and collected more information on their students than the non-specialized Special Needs Coordinators reported that they did; (b) only a few specialized Special Needs Coordinators reported that they were committed to individual tutoring; (c) no signifıcant difference was found in reported task load between the specialized and non-specialized Special Needs Coordinators; and (d) no signifıcant difference was found between how the specialized and non-specialized Special Needs Coordinators evaluated their personal expertise.

This article has been retracted at the request of the author.

The present study aimed to modify the purchasing skills of 2 students with intellectual disabilities when they shopped with their mother, using an ecological inventory and social comparison to identify needed skills, and examining factors that may affect their shopping behavior and changes in their behavior. The participants were 10-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy, both with intellectual disabilities. Initially, their viewpoints and the validity of the procedures were used to select the target behavior, i.e., purchasing skills. The intervention was conducted in a local grocery store. Before the intervention, an ecological inventory was used to identify the purchasing skills of other children at those ages. As a result, the target list for the girl's purchases contained 13 items, and the boy's list, 17 items. After baseline measurements, the intervention was implemented for several of the target behaviors, step by step. After the intervention was concluded, follow-up sessions were held. The results showed that the level of spontaneous performance increased in the latter half of sessions or immediately following an intervention session. These fındings suggest that behavior that the participants had not previously shown could be shaped by an intervention based on a plan developed through an ecological inventory. It is possible that the children's mothers felt success as a result of the participants having acquired new purchasing skills.

In order to develop a practical program to help people with partial hearing loss to understand characteristics of hearing loss, stressful events related to partial hearing loss, and a variety of ways to cope with such stress, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 people with partial hearing loss, and their answers were analyzed. Based on the results of that analysis, a workshop program was developed for helping people with partial hearing loss to understand characteristics of hearing loss, stressful events related to partial hearing loss, and a variety of ways to cope with such stress. Materials developed for the workshop included a booklet about hearing loss and diffıculties faced by people with partial hearing loss, and worksheets to help workshop participants understand stressful events associated with partial hearing loss and ways to cope with stress. People with partial hearing loss (N=11) participated in a 2-hour workshop using these materials and evaluated it. Their answers indicated that the workshop had helped them to understand stressful events related to partial hearing loss. The participants also pointed out several ways that the workshop could be improved, such as adding information accessibility and communication tools. The discussion deals with the challenges and future utility of this program, based on the experience with this workshop.