Until about 15 years ago, many children with developmental disabilities did not receive special attention, but now some 116,000 special education students throughout Japan attend classes in regular elementary schools, and the number is increasing every year.

This week, "Heartnet TV" (NHK-E, Mon., 8 p.m.) will look at one autistic boy, Hikaru Tamura, who attends such a class. Hikaru's father is a director at NHK, and he kept a video diary of his son's school experience for 240 days. The special class was established at his school seven years ago.

Hikaru is a new boy in class, and at first he has difficulties because he tends to be stubborn and is not comfortable working in groups.