By Yasuko Sawada

Children suffering developmental disorders, such as learning disabilities and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), are not subject to the conventional framework of special education for disabled children in Japan. But the Education, Science and Technology Ministry has decided to extend coverage of special educational needs to include childrenwith these disorders through a number of new measures.

Learning disabilities make it difficult for children to learn specific skills such as reading, listening, speaking, writing or arithmetic, while ADHD involves behavioral disorders such as a severe lack of concentration or an inability to remain seated. Among forms of autism, high-functioning autism is not currently considered a disability although it is associatedwith certain behavioral disorders such as an inability to establish friendships or an overly obsessive focus on a narrow interest.

As people with such disorders are not considered mentally disabled they are not recognized under the Basic Law for Persons with Disabilities. However, a new law that will take effect in April will offer various kindsof support for people with developmental disorders.

Until now, poor educational support for such children has often led teachers to regard them just as "troubled students."

A woman in the Kansai area, who says her son has not had sufficient special-needs support at his primary school, relates an example of how schools deal with such students.

Since her son--now a sixth-grader--was a young child, he has often exhibited worrying behavior. It took him much longer than other children to learn to speak and he would often get fixated in repeatedly pressing the buttons of vending machines. Nonetheless, when the boy entered a local primary school, the principal told her that her son did not have to attend aspecial class for the disabled at the school.

As soon as he entered the school, though, he started beating up his classmates and would often get panicky and start shouting and screaming.

The following year, the boy was diagnosed as suffering learning disabilities at a local hospital. The woman asked the school to allow herson to spend most of his time in regular classes but move him into a classfor the disabled whenever he started to become panicky.

"He often got full marks in the tests of regular classes," a teacherof the class for the disabled recalled. "But why can't he follow the rules?Why all the panicking? His classroom teachers often got really frustrated with him and shouted at him."

The boy was later diagnosed at another hospital as havinghigh-functioning autism, which often causes sufferers to get panicky when they cannot predict what will happen next.

Full story here: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20050215wob1.htm