Sayaka Yamano

“Developmental disabilities” within a changing society

“Developmental disabilities” began to be recognized by society from the 2000s onwards. When I was a young child in the 1990s, even if I tried to get people to understand that I could not do things as well as others, there were very few people who accepted how tough that was for me. Now that I have become an adult, on the other hand, when a misunderstanding arises at work, it is sometimes labelled as my “developmental disability” in a one-dimensional way, causing me confusion. I myself have surely not changed, but the way in which society sees and receives me has changed rapidly over the last decade or so. By laying out some examples of friction (disability) between myself and contemporary society, in which the concept of disability and understanding of people’s diversity continue to evolve, as well as my thoughts in this context, I hope to provide some hints, however small, to help us in thinking about building a society in which it is easier for people who have the particular characteristics of developmental disabilities to live alongside everyone else.

My distinguishing characteristics and what I find difficult

I am not good at things such as the timing of responses during conversations or motor coordination. In other words, it is difficult for me to make connections between the pieces of information within my head, including sensations and movements. Where it is particularly difficult to gain the understanding of those around me is that I can sometimes manage somehow if I make a big effort, and that things change depending on my physical condition. Since I can sometimes manage things, it is easy for people to conclude that I lack motivation.

A secondary issue arising from these characteristics: unclear boundaries between myself and others

I tend to get the sensation that the content of what I have heard disappears, while my own thoughts sometimes well up after the conversation has finished. While I was a child, I tended to be overlooked as a “good child” if I made myself fit in with those around me. However, I now have insufficient experience of communicating my opinions, and cannot feel confident, so it becomes difficult to know where the boundary between myself and others is. The fact that I have different emotions and values from other people becomes unclear, and I can perceive their emotions as though they were my own, or have excessive expectations that they ought to understand my feelings. If this inability to communicate my thoughts becomes the norm, the stability of my daily life or of my physical and emotional health becomes distorted. It was hard for me to express my true feelings because of my difficulty with the timing of conversations, so I took on roles to the extent of exhaustion. As a result, my daily life became unbalanced. Although my inability to self-regulate was the problem, I felt that I might have been used, making the mistake of perceiving myself as a victim.

Developing expressive communication, and creating “points of contact” with society

Drawing boundaries between oneself and others and accumulating experiences of communicating one’s own thoughts and feelings from early childhood are essential to a stable life in society. I also feel that society has come to require “the ability to work with others”, including thinking ability, judgement, and expressive ability. It is not necessarily the case that people with developmental disabilities lack thinking ability – even if we do have new and interesting ideas, we often find it hard to create “points of contact” to make the most of these. On the other hand, people like me, who combine clumsiness and difficulty with multitasking, are not suited to simple, routine tasks, either – these take us longer than other people and we struggle with them.

If there were many opportunities for people with developmental disabilities, who have difficulty maintaining points of contact, to learn through trial and error how to reach compromises about the timing and ways of expressing ourselves, society would surely become broader and more diverse. One suggestion for this is putting communication into writing. This does not suit everyone with a developmental disability, but for me, it creates a “pause” in which to think, and makes it easier for me to feel secure. Furthermore, through building up experiences of sharing our thoughts in venues where we can feel safe to express ourselves, such as in groups of people with similar disabilities, we can come into contact with diverse ways of thinking, leading to self-confidence and making it easier for us to speak out and ask for understanding from society. I believe that as a result, we will become able to draw boundaries between ourselves and others, and this will lead us to value both ourselves and other people.

Moreover, searching for the answer to the question of what developmental disabilities are, and looking for ingenious ways to meet in the middle and create “points of contact” linking diverse people, will not only promote an understanding of developmental disabilities but will surely also create a society in which diverse people can display their strengths and work together with one another.