Duchenne muscular dystrophy (a disease in which the muscles become fragile and muscle strength gradually decreases due to the body’s inability to regenerate itself). Until the second year of junior high school, he attended a typical school, and then from the third year of junior high school started to attend a special support school. After graduating from university (Department of English Language Studies at Mejiro University), he spends his days studying and focusing on volunteer activities. He currently uses an electric wheelchair and live in Nerima-ku, in Tokyo. He is 26 years old.

Ryoga Kaneko

Introduction

Since I was 5 years old, I have had ups and downs with a disease that has progressively gotten worse. Sometimes, like a spiraling staircase, I have my good days and bad ones, but I always try to live my life by staying positive and continuously moving forward. Challenging myself this hard while facing society is like an indicator that I cherished as I face an unstoppable disease. This is a theme for me (our family), and a goal that I want to continue without forgetting.

Currently, I spend my days studying and accumulating necessary knowledge for the future while doing volunteer activities such as participating in community development projects in the ward where I live, attending lectures at my alma mater university, and giving presentations at the Japan Muscular Dystrophy Association.  Through these activities, I am reaffirming the significance of social participation, and every day I am searching for my position in society. Volunteer activities are very meaningful for me to learn and absorb important things in life, and I have also learned the importance of communicating things face-to-face. I have also learned how difficult it is to convey somethings through letters from writing manuscripts for organizations that support students with disabilities and writing manuscripts for "Human-My Life". It was a very valuable few years in which I was able to have many opportunities which allowed me to gain experiences to learn and grow.

Prospects for the future

The number of people with disabilities which is said to be a minority may be small, but I predict that this ratio will eventually change. This is because the factors that have been thought to be negative in the past are likely to be removed by the development of technology and the influx of diversity, creating a foundation that will make it easier for people with disabilities to advance in society. What lies ahead is a future in which individuals with disabilities can become the majority in society in terms of their abilities, skills, and knowledge. In accordance with this self-prediction, I am studying to become a certified career consultant as a person with disabilities in preparation for the freedom of career choices that individuals with disabilities will have in the future.

I feel that the division between Able-bodied and Disabled has the effect of a wall blocking, or standing in front of us, and the coldness of showing the "difference" that has been determined from the beginning. Against this invisible wall, I have the experience of having spent a long and difficult period of time searching for ways to get closer to being able-bodied, in other words, being able to compete and succeed.

During this time, I was forced to look deeply into my soul while staying at home, as my activities were restricted due to the corona crisis and living with that fear which became a daily routine. In order to clear my mind, I naturally spent my days reading self-help books and business books in search of answers and hints, and the accumulated hints led me to a certain conclusion. It was the realization that there is a "person” beyond distinction, and that there is “an individual" with uniqueness, rather than just plain differences. And while asking myself what I should do to achieve things and leave results in society "as an individual”, I want to contribute to society by starting a business in parallel with becoming a career consultant.

At the end

The road to my dream is never easy, and my disease is progressive, so the difficulties will increase, but I always have a map in my heart, look at the destination, and follow the compass even if the path goes astray. I will do my best to cross the ocean of society.