Project News

The Japanese Association of Special Education was established in 1963 with members from a broad range of sectors covering education, health, and social welfare. During the 56th annual conference, 40 oral presentations, 145 independent symposia, and 608 poster presentations were given along with a commemorative lecture and a main symposium.

The project team presented two posters titled "Education for Children with Disabilities in Mongolia that covered the following:
(1) "Current Situation and Issues of School Education" that explained the current condition and issues of school education for children with disabilities, and
(2) "Situation for Children with Learning and/or Behavior problems at Mainstream School" that discussed the results of a survey conducted at the project's pilot schools regarding children with learning and/or behavioral problems.

As most poster presentations were case studies or discussed research in Japan, we wondered if our presentations on special needs education in Mongolia would generate any interest among conference participants. However, ultimately a variety of attendees including professors, university students, and primary school teachers received our presentations well.

We also learned about some of the practices and challenges facing special needs education in Japan by attending other presentations and symposia. We took tips from these presentations on how best to tackle issues the project is currently confronting, such as reasonable accommodation and evaluation criteria for children with disabilities in mainstream schools.