Your first visit:
what happens, step by step

The five steps

1. Contact us. Use the English contact form on our main English page, or call 03-6380-2836 (10:00–17:00, closed Tuesdays; the phone is answered in Japanese — for English, the form is the surest way). Tell us your child's age and what you are noticing.
2. Visit the classroom. Come and see it, ideally with your child. The tour and first consultation are with our staff, in Japanese; if your family cannot manage in Japanese, our representative joins in English.
3. Trial session. Your child tries a session. While they do, our child development support manager meets with you individually.
4. The certificate. If you do not have it yet, we explain the steps at your ward; it usually takes about a month. See the step-by-step guide.
5. Start attending. We sign the service agreement, build your child's individual support plan with you, and regular sessions begin.

What a session looks like

Sessions last about two hours and are built around one-to-one time with a therapist, with small-group time so that skills carry over to daycare and school. Sessions are conducted with the child and therapist only; parents wait outside the room. We keep sessions short on purpose so that your child can practise what they learned the same day in everyday life — and we tell you what to practise at home.

Sessions are in Japanese. The classroom is on the 2nd floor of AZ Nishi-Waseda, one minute from Waseda Station on the Tokyo Sakura Tram.

What to bring

• Your notes on what you are noticing (when it started, in what situations)
• Any health-check results, assessments or consultation records you already have, and the 母子手帳 if you have one
• Your child's daycare or kindergarten name and how they are doing there
• The days of the week you could attend
• The certificate, if you already have it

What is in English

If your family can manage in Japanese — even simple Japanese — our staff talk with you directly, as with every family. If you cannot, our representative joins the first consultation and the important conversations after you start, in English. Day-to-day sessions with your child, and the day-to-day feedback from the therapists, are in Japanese.

What you are not committing to

A visit is a visit. Many families come to us to understand the system before deciding anything; some then apply for the certificate, some use another classroom nearer home, some decide to wait. Nothing you send through the form or say at the visit commits you to attending.