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Supporting Students with Disabilities(Dec.2002)

Supporting Students with Disabilities

By Tsubasa Tonooka, Representative of the Nationwide Support Center for Students with Disabilities, translated by the Information Center of the Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (JSRPD). This article originally appeared in the November 2002 issue of "Normalization."

Promotion of rights to a higher education

Imagine the following situations: students taking entrance examinations in Braille, or attending classes with sign language interpreters or a doctor in an electric wheelchair. As many as 3000 students who have disabilities take university/college entrance examinations in Japan and 500 of them are accepted every year. We call them "students with disabilities". To our regret, however, not all universities and colleges in Japan necessarily open their doors to students with disabilities. Some doors remain closed for them on the basis of their disabilities. Wishing to satisfy the needs of students with disabilities by researching universities and colleges and by providing them with various information including whether these universities/colleges accept applications from students with disabilities, we established the Nationwide Support Center for Students with Disabilities in 1999, and have been carrying out activities.

Current Information about People with Disabilities in Japanese Universities

We drew the inspiration for our activities from a discussion, where students with various disabilities, such as visual, hearing and physical limitations, gathered and shared their experiences with each other. There they discovered a large number of common difficulties, in spite of their differences. At the end of the discussion, every one of them became strongly aware that providing proper information and specific support to students with disabilities is urgently required and such activities should be led by those who have experienced similar difficulties. It was the wish of members of this discussion that gave impetus to the birth of the national support center.

Problems Concerning Entrance Examinations and Classes

Firstly, there are problems concerning entrance examinations and classes. Judging from counseling with students at our center, we can point out the following obstacles: In the first place, not all universities give entrance examination in Braille. Examination using a PC may be necessary for those who cannot read Braille (totally blind individuals and partially sighted individuals). Students with physical disabilities reported that universities and colleges did not permit them to take entrance examinations, saying there was no precedent for using someone who could write for these students. Students with hearing disabilities questioned how their lessons could be guaranteed. They are concerned about the support they will get before and after admission and some complain that they don't understand lectures and are left behind because of lack of guarantee of support for classes after admission. Although these matters must be dealt with urgently, it will take time in terms of recruiting and training staff. Therefore, the challenges are how to deal with the matter for the time being.

Problems Concerning Everyday Life

Secondly, there are problems concerning the life outside campus such as commuting and lodging. Students ask for our advice on various kinds of concerns about living. We have learned that almost all students with disabilities who wish to study at a university or college face the reality that "they have to choose one taking into account the availability of support for commuting, lodging and everyday life" before considering what they want to study. This reality is the highest barrier facing students with disabilities.

Identity Problems

Thirdly, there are problems concerning their relationship with other people, especially friends who have no disabilities, and establishment of their identity. What kind of environment is necessary so that individuals with disabilities can live among those with no disabilities equally - this is a very big challenge. It is necessary to support students with disabilities by promoting their identity so that they can strongly express their opinions. Students with disabilities, who are forced to face themselves as a minority in the society, tend to find it a great bother to express their feelings. To deal with it, we need to create "a place where they can speak out". To respond to various needs of those students as much as possible, our staff members who also have disabilities, implement the following activities:

  1. Counseling and supporting those who wish to take entrance examinations of universities and colleges

  2. Counseling and supporting concerning campus life after enrollment

  3. Research at all universities and collages in Japan from an independent standpoint and publication of the results in a "University and College Guidebook for Students with Disabilities in Japan"

  4. Publishing "Information Magazine: The Current Situation of Individuals with Disabilities"

  5. Hosting "Interchange Meeting of Students with Disabilities" every summer

After Attending the DPI World Assembly

In July this year, we held "Disabled Peoples' International 6th World Assembly pre-event: Interchange Meeting of Students with Disabilities" and "Japan-Korean Students with Disabilities Exchange Project". With sixteen Koreans students with disabilities including Mr. Bae Yoong Ho of Easy Access Movement for People with Disabilities participating, the exchange of Korean and Japanese students with disabilities was realized. In September after the events, two Japanese students with disabilities visited Korea to further strengthen the relationship. Supporting students with disabilities is becoming a common challenge across the border.

Additionally, 11 people from our center including four students with disabilities, attended the DPI (Disabled Peoples' International) 6th World Assembly held in Sapporo from October 15 till 18 this year. We planned and carried out one of the "Special Interest Groups" on October 16, under the theme of "Students with Disabilities and Higher Education: expectations from activities of people with disabilities of their own". We gave presentations about the students' visit to Korea mentioned above and our activities, which was a very good opportunity to draw attention from many people including foreign participants towards higher education of students with disabilities.

On the occasion of the World Assembly, we renewed our determination as follows: The right of students with disabilities to receive higher education needs to be guaranteed by the (proposed) International Convention on Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Anti-discrimination Law. We hope the laws clearly ban discrimination against students with disabilities such as denial of opportunities including application, entrance examinations and admission to university. Making this wish a reality will lead to the expansion of rights of education for all students with disabilities.