Favorite activities for deafblind children Main author: Kono, Emi; Tokyo Woman's Christian University; Japan Co-authors: Oda, K Purpose It is known to be very difficult for congenital deafblind children to acquire suitable communication methods and concepts of things and events, thus to construct human relationships. We conducted a survey to find clues to assist early deafblind children and here we report interesting findings. Method We conducted a survey to families of 23 deafblind children who participated in a summer gathering of parents' association called "Foowa" in 2003. Questions included: age, sex, enrolling educational facility, status of impairment, cause of deafblindness, activity they like and dislike, and parents' view of their educational needs. Results Age ranged from 1 through 18, in average of 9.3 years, 69.6 per cent male and 30.4 per cent female. Cause of deafblindness was 39 per cent retinopathy of prematurity, 19 per cent CHARGE syndrome, 14 per cent German measles, and the rest unknown. Visual acuity ranged from blind through 0.7 logMAR, hearing level ranged from deaf through 70dB. The most common communication method was object-cue method; 60 per cent for pre-schoolers, 45 per cent for elementary school children, 80 per cent for junior and senior high school children. Activities which attract the children surveyed included: (1) plays in the water, such as water bathing, hot-bath taking, and swimming, and (2) plays in which one can feel wind blowing or accerelation, such as swings, trampolines, jet coasters, and fans. Conclusion Across age, sex, cause, and impairment levels, popular activities among early deafblind children share the same quality which stimulates relatively large area of skin, and some has additional sensation to vestibular organs.