ASD support for children returning home after evacuation due to the Fukushima nuclear incident following the Great East Japan Earthquake

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K14057
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Special needs education
• Research Institution: Fukushima University
• Principal Investigator: Kawashima Keiko 福島大学, 子どものメンタルヘルス支援事業推進室, 研究員 (10773939)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 発達障害 / 自閉症スペクトラム / 東日本大震災 / 原発事故 / 保護者支援 / 帰還

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We administered questionnaire aconcerning “mental health and support needs” survey to children with developmental disabilities who were evacuated after the Fukushima nuclear accident following the Great East Japan Earthquake and their guardians. Forty-six families (46 guardians/56 children) participated in the survey for three consecutive years. For comparison, 44 unevacuated families (44 guardians/51 children) living in Fukushima inland areas participated in the survey.
We found that environmental factors associated with children’s difficulties depended on the each year : in 2017, the difficulty was “neighborhood/local support”, in 2018, “ease of school facility use”/“support within the home”, and in 2019 “daily life noises”. The results also suggested the importance of support for the guardians, not just for the children

Free Research Field

発達障害

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

大規模震災後の長期的避難と「帰還・生活再建」伴う子育て環境の変化が,発達障害の子どもにどのような影響を及ぼすのか,またどのような支援ニーズがあるかについての検討は十分になされていない。現在の福島県の喫緊の課題であり,今後の大規模震災時の発達障害特性に配慮した支援体制整備にも役立つことが期待される。