FUJITA Kumi

In recent years, early support for preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been the focus of social attention. In this study, we report the results of an early support program, APPLE, for one preschooler with ASD. As a result of the implementation of this program, it was confirmed that the joint attention behavior and verbal behavior of the child who participated in the program became richer. In the future, it is necessary to verify the effectiveness of the APPLE program by increasing the number of children participated in this program.

In April 2023, the Institute of Social Work Education for Children and Families (Institute of SWE for Children and Families) was established as an institution attached to the Faculty of Social Welfare at Yamaguchi Prefectural University,which has been providing social worker training education since 1994 and has produced many social welfare personnel in and outside Yamaguchi Prefecture. With the basic principle of ‘For the realization of happiness of children and families in Yamaguchi Prefecture’, the aim of the Institute of SWE for Children and Families is to improve the expertise of childcare, welfare, education and other personnel involved in child and family support and to explore ways to support children and families with difficulties. This paper reported on the practice of the Institute of SWE for Children and Families, an educational and research institute established at the university, in its first year of operation, taking into account the circumstances that led to its establishment. It also discussed the development of projects for the following year and beyond.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the operation of (1) counseling and support systems and (2) training systems related to the care of “ Concerned Children “ based on the results of a questionnaire survey of childcare facilities (“day care centers,” “kindergartens,” and “centers for early childhood education and care”) in Prefecture A. The results of the study revealed the following. Regarding (1) counseling support system, 96% of the facilities provided “counseling opportunities,” and another 69.5% provided consultation opportunities with outside experts. On the other hand, the counseling system in terms of tools and equipment, such as the use of SNS/ applications and the establishment of counseling rooms, had not yet been fully developed. In terms of the training system, more than 90% of the childcare facilities provided both inside of facility and outside of facility training, and the rate of training outside of the facility was higher than that inside of the facility. In particular, 66.3% of the inside facility training sessions were conducted in facility conferences. All of these results were significantly different when tested by a binary test.

The aim of this study is to examine the reliability and validity of the Competency Scale in Practice of Childhood Care for children with Disabilities (CSPCD). Moreover, this study examines the relationship between CPSCD and careers of nursery teachers. The results exhibited that CSPCD consisted of five sub-scales interest in childcare for children with disabilities necessary assessments in childcare for children with disabilities; the actual involvement in childcare for children with disabilities; collaboration with parents and other organizations in childcare for children with disabilities, and development of expertise in childcare. Our study finds that there is sufficient reliability and validity in this regard due to significant correlation between the score of interest in childcare for children with disabilities in CSPCD and the required number of years of experience for a childcare institution. Additionally, it was clarified that the total score of CSPCD and the scores of each sub-scale differed significantly depending on the teachers’ individual experiences in assisting children with disabilities.

In recent years, the importance of the co-creative communication approach has often been highlighted when examining communication in children with congenital deaf-blindness and children with severe and multiple disabilities. This paper describes some episodes of dyadic interactions and triadic interactions in a child with CHARGE syndrome and parents based on romantic science, and interprets it from the perspective of co-creative communication. It was suggested that an approach based on various signs and physical reactions of children with congenital deaf-blindness in actual communication situations is important for the co-creation communication approach.