The survival prognosis of individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is markedly improving, and further improvement of their physical function is anticipated. Elementary and secondary education for these individuals should emphasize the long-term prognosis, including after graduation, for children with muscular dystrophy. The purpose of the present study was to examine challenges related to education for children with muscular dystrophy, emphasizing long-term prognosis. After hospitalized adults with muscular dystrophy and no intellectual disabilities (N＝78) completed a questionnaire (WHOQOL-26) with the assistance of hospital staff, the data were analyzed in order to assess the subjective Quality of Life (QOL) of the respondents. The results indicated that the mean subjective Quality of Life score of the participants was equivalent to the average score of individuals in the general population. Increasing the degree of treatment with disease progression decreases the physical aspects of quality of life, but in other aspects, their quality of life was maintained. The results also suggested that the only factor contributing to their overall quality of life was in the psychological area. Based on these results, the discussion deals with 2 challenges related to the education of children with muscular dystrophy: fınding and constructing an appropriate environment for children with muscular dystrophy and fostering positive self-concepts of children with muscular dystrophy.

The purpose of the present study was to examine effectiveness of each stage of the Multilayer Instruction Model (MIM). The first stage of the intervention was conducted starting in April, the second stage from September to December, and the third from December to February. The overall teaching context was general education classrooms; the intervention was used in the Japanese language classes. However, the third stage was conducted in a resource room during the school lunch setup time. In parallel with the interventions, Multilayer Instruction Model-Progress Monitoring (MIM-PM) was implemented. The participants, 284 public elementary school first grade students, were divided into 4 groups on the basis of their MIM-PM scores for one semester. The results indicated that the students in the first to third layers (without instruction) had the highest scores in the second stage of the intervention, and the children in the third layer (with instruction) had the highest scores in the third stage of the intervention. Comparison of these results to the results of previously published research revealed that the MIM-PM scores of the first to third layer students were significantly higher in the present research than in the previous study. These findings suggest that each stage of the intervention seems to be effective for students who were at different levels of reading fluency and who were enrolled in general education classes.

The purpose of the present study was to introduce a group contingency (GC) in an elementary school class and compare the effects of an interdependent contingency and an independent contingency, as well as to examine differences in the children's achievement rates for the target behaviors when their preferred type of group contingency was applied and when another type of group contingency was applied. In addition, the present study examined whether the changes observed in the children's behavior after the group contingency had been applied were maintained 2 months after intervention ended. The intervention, which was aimed at improving the children's morning readiness and preparation for school lunch, was conducted with a regular first-grade public school class of 16 children (10 boys, 6 girls), including 4 children (2 boys, 2 girls) who needed special support. Little difference was found in the children's behavior between the independent and the interdependent contingencies, but carry-over effects from the independent contingency could conceivably have affected the results of the interdependent contingency. Further, the children who preferred the independent contingency had higher achievement of the target behaviors relating to morning readiness when the independent contingency was applied than with the interdependent contingency, but little difference was found during the implementation of the independent and the interdependent contingencies in the behavior of the children who preferred the interdependent contingency. The improvements in the children's target behaviors were maintained 2 months after the intervention ended. The discussion examined limitations of the present study and implications of applying a group contingency in practice.

The present study investigated effects of guidance using video prompts (video taken from the point of view of the person who is encouraging the target behavior) on the acquisition of the social skill of asking “Are you OK?”, and generalization of that social skill to other videos for which no guidance had been given and to daily life. The participants were 2 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and moderate intellectual disabilities who did not display the social skill of showing consideration to others by asking “Are you OK?”. The video prompt aimed to facilitate that behavior by showing a scene in which a person was in pain. Generalization to 4 other scenes for which no guidance had been presented, such as a person with a stomachache and a person who was upset because of having dropped something, and generalization to the children's homes were assessed. Both children acquired the target behavior after the video guidance. Furthermore, generalization was observed both to the unguided video scenes and at the children's homes. It was suggested that guidance using a video prompt might be an effective way to teach social skills and that it may facilitate generalization to daily life. Finally, the effects of guidance using video prompts and the generalization of behavior are discussed.

The purpose of the present study was to examine effects of instruction that considered individual students' cognitive functions on the students' learning of English words. The participants were 2 Japanese students, student A (14 years old, junior high school) and student B (16 years old, high school), both of whom had specifıc diffıculties learning English. Their intellectual levels were below average and average, respectively, and their test results suggested cognitive weaknesses, specifically with planning ability and the visual analysis of details. On the other hand, student A's cognitive strengths included working memory and successive processes, and student B's, verbal comprehension and expression. The instruction focused on the reading and semantics of English words. Flash cards and matching-to-sample tasks were used to teach phonetic and semantic aspects of English words, respectively. Both instructional methods were constructed based on stimulus equivalence. The 2 participants were taught individually; the instruction sessions were held 10 times, once a week, for 20-40 minutes each time. Student A was taught 64 words; student B, 63. The effects of the instruction were evaluated with a 70-word English vocabulary test. The students took the English vocabulary test 3 times: before instruction (pre-test), immediately following completion of the 10 training sessions (post-test 1), and 4-7 months after instruction (post-test 2). On the pre-test, the students answered 8% and 10% of the items correctly, respectively, whereas on the post-test that they took immediately after the final instruction session, they answered 77% and 97% of the items correctly, respectively. Their performance on both post-tests showed great improvement compared with their pre-test scores. These results suggest the educational effectiveness of instruction that takes individual students' cognitive function into account.

The present study describes how a method for training autonomous activities called jiritsu katsudo in Japanese was used with a boy with severe motor and intellectual disabilities (SMID). The participant in this case study was a boy with severe motor and intellectual disabilities who was 11 years old at the start of the study. Because he had severe asymmetric tension, he could not change his body's position without help. He also had a visual impairment. Before jiritsu katsudo was used with him, he had excessive asymmetric tension. After 5 years in which the focus was on his turning over, he was able to use his muscles and could turn over by himself from lying on his side to a prone position. The present report describes the jiritsu katsudo process by dividing it into 4 stages, and identifies what may be important points in the guidance used in each stage. In terms of what is necessary for youth with severe motor and intellectual disabilities to learn new movements, it seems important for the person helping the youth to encourage the use of physical assistance.