According to the news, the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, Culture and Technology (MEXT) has announced that it will be reinforcing the health checkup that enables early detection of developmental disorders in elementary-school age children upon starting school.

Why is it necessary to reinforce health checkups for detection of these developmental disorders when starting school?

It is important to discover and treat developmental disorders early, and for this reason, it is considered better to diagnose them when the child starts school rather than later. Many readers of this blog may also agree.

My doubt concerns the necessity of detecting disorders upon starting school. Developmental disorders differ according to type, but in general, the signs become apparent in social relationships, group activities, and while learning at school. In general, the child tends to experience various difficulties in class after starting school and undergoes treatment or therapy in line with educational "reasonable accommodation." Of course, there are cases in which characteristics of developmental disorder are found before starting school, and the possibilities of sending the child to a special support class or a special support school is considered upon starting school or even before.

What is the difference between assessing a developmental disorder upon entering school and after starting school? Of course, assessing the disorder upon entering school is somewhat early, but in terms of time, the difference is not that large. Assessment upon starting school takes place over a comparatively short period of time, so compared to observing behavior in class after starting school, we see that the latter clearly provides a more detailed diagnosis.

It should be possible for specialists to continue the assessment based on behavior in the classroom after the student starts school. If a diagnosis is made after the student starts school, a reasonable accommodation can then be made.

This is my supposition, but it seems to me that diagnosing developmental disabilities upon starting school and "reasonable accommodation" at an early stage is intended to enroll the student in either a special support class or special support school.

All schools have already been directed to make "reasonable accommodation" for children with developmental disorders, so I do not see any rational reason for conducting the assessment of developmental disorders when the child enters school.

I once had the opportunity to meet Naoko Richters, a scholar and specialist in education in the Netherlands, at a conference. I spoke on the subject of "disclosure of developmental disorders." She listened with a puzzled look on her face and asked the following question, "Why is disclosure necessary? I can't understand the reason at all."

The disclosure of developmental disorders refers to disclosing the name of the diagnosed disorder and characteristics not only to the parents, but also to the child, the homeroom teacher or to children in the same class and their parents.

I explained that when a student is diagnosed with a developmental disorder, the child is introduced to special classes and sometimes transferred from a regular class to a special needs class or a special needs school, and at that time, it is necessary to make the disclosure.

In the Netherlands, regardless of whether the child has a developmental disorder, parents can choose to send their children to attend different types of schools. There is also a school similar to special needs schools in Japan, which parents are free to select. Because inclusive education is practiced, it is possible to enter the school of one's choice regardless of whether the child has a developmental disorder or not. Naturally, in regular classes, there are children with developmental disorders and education takes place with reasonable accommodation made for the needs of these children.

Naoko Richters asked why disclosure was necessary because in the Netherlands, disclosure of a developmental disorder is irrelevant, and if children display behavioral conditions indicative of a developmental disorder, the school will provide education appropriate to the condition (even if parents do not inform the teacher of the developmental disorder).

Then what is the significance of assessing developmental disorders upon entering school? What do you readers think?