Objective To observe clinical efficacy of acupuncture at ]ing-well point combined with educational training for the treatment of children with severe mental retardation. Methods Sixty children with severe mental retardation were randomly divided into ]ing-well point acupuncture plus simple special education and language training group （group A） and simple special education and language training group （group B） with 30 child patients in each group according to registration order. All the patients were treated once every other day, 10 times as a course of treatment. There were 20 days of interval between each course of treatment. Curative effect was analyzed after 3 courses of treatment. Gesell Developmental Scale test was conducted for all children before and after treatment. Development quotient at the functional area of social adaptability, large motor, fine motor, language skill and social behavior of individuals was recorded and compared between groups and before and after treatment to evaluate the curative effect. Results Social adaptability and fine motor of children were improved in the group B after treatment. And in the group A, social adaptability, fine motor, language skill and social behavior of individuals were improved after treatment. Meanwhile, the group A was superior to the group B in curative effect of overall social adaptability and language skill （both P〈0.05）. The overall response rate in group B was 23.3% （7/30） and in group A was 46.6% （14/30, P〈0.05）. Conclusion Acupuncture at jing-well point combined with educational training can effectively improve the intelligence level of children with severe mental retardation and its curative effect is better than that of simply education and training.
