Abstract

The author, a developmental disability specialist with more than 30 years of clinical experience, has compiled a manga on what is important in raising children with developmental disabilities, what not to do, and how to deal with children's difficulties. Set in an elementary school, the manga format introduces children with various characteristics, including ASD (autism spectrum disorder), ADHD, gray zone, borderline intelligence, and mild intellectual disability, and what is behind their difficulties or how to respond to them. This explains "how a child with developmental disabilities grows up," and then provides easy-to-understand explanations of "what parents, teachers, and other adults should do about it."

Author’s Information

Professor, Department of Child Mental Development, Shinshu University School of Medicine, and Director, Child Mental Health Care Department, Shinshu University Hospital. Representative Director of Nest Japan, a non-profit organization.A psychiatrist and a doctor of medicine. Graduated from the University of Tokyo School of Medicine in 1988. After working at the University of Tokyo Hospital and Musashi Hospital of the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, he has been engaged in clinical and research work on developmental disorders at the Yokohama City Rehabilitation Center for 20 years. He has published numerous academic papers on developmental disabilities. He is a member of the editorial board of "Autism", an academic journal on autism published in the U.K. In 2011, he became the first director of the Yamanashi Comprehensive Support Center for Mental Development; in 2014, he became the director of the Department of Children's Mental Health at Shinshu University Hospital. He is a board member of the Japan Autism Society, a standing board member of the Japan Autism Spectrum Society, and a board member of the Japanese Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. His publications include "Autism Spectrum," "Developmental Disorders: A Minority 'Tribe' of People with Difficulties in Living," and "Children's Developmental Disorders" (all SB Creative Corp.)