Yusuke Kikuta
Student of Faculty of Environment and Information Studies
Keio University

The school program called Global and Innovation Gateway for All (GIGA), which is part of digital innovation, has been generating much interest.  In this program, one PC is distributed to each pupil at school.  Having received my education on a PC as a reasonable accommodation, I would like to share my viewpoints.

First of all, I must say that digital innovation does not uniformly remove the difficulties arising from disabilities.  This is because each person with a disability has his/her unique difficulties.  For example, in my case, in addition to having a learning disability (LD), I have symptoms such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), hyperacusis and hypersomnia.  These symptoms are often complicated by LD. There are many people with LD who have other disorders and the combination of disorders is numerous.  Therefore, it is necessary to come up with various types of reasonable accommodation that would suit each individual.

Furthermore, even if LD is the only symptom someone has, it is not always possible to resolve the difficulty just by providing a PC.  If the pupil could not even type, it would not help.  Then, if you would give the pupil a digital pencil instead of a PC, it would be like failing to address the real problem.  The important thing is to guide the person on how to use a PC well on a daily basis.

Now, some people might say, “If you make an effort to master a PC, you might as well make an effort to write by hand.”  However, for people with dysgraphia, the effort to write by hand is in vain. 　That is why we seek reasonable accommodations. 　When giving support to persons with disabilities, it is important for supporters to know the difference between “promising efforts” and “efforts in vain.”  Some people may find it more comfortable to write with a pen.  For such persons, even after digital innovation, it would always be necessary to write with a pen.

In personalized learning, each teacher needs to understand the equipment the pupil is using,  such as the input method, the software used, the level of literacy, and reasonable accommodations that can be made.  Let me share with you my experience in my junior high school days.  As a reasonable accommodation, I was allowed to take term exams using my PC.  The difficult part for me was having to use A4 size paper.  The scanner I brought to school could only read up to A4 size.  However, the exam paper was always B4 size.  Thus, I had to start the exam by cutting with scissors the B4 size exam paper into two.  It was only in the final exam of the second semester of my third year in junior high school that I was finally given an A4 size exam paper.  My experience happened because the teachers did not know the limitations of my scanner, and therefore, did not realize how important A4 sized paper was for me.

As you can see, there are issues that must be overcome by better understanding of each other.  However, there are still many things that we can expect from this GIGA School Program.  One of them is that the program lowers the hurdle of the starting point of the provision of reasonable accommodations.  I have always thought that the granting of reasonable accommodations should start as early as possible.  If persons with disabilities can accept their need for reasonable accommodation early on, I believe they will stand a chance in the future.  Having a strong will to pursue something without being discouraged paves the way to a better future.  For example, when asking for a reasonable accommodation during entrance exams in high school or university, even if your request was denied, you should stand up and reiterate your request by preparing the necessary requirements.  In other words, it is vital to have a strong will even at the first stage of considering a reasonable accommodation.  Oftentimes, in the beginning when receiving a reasonable accommodation, the person with a disability may perceive a look of displeasure because he/she looks different from others.  This sense of displeasure directed at him/her not only comes from parents, teachers, and other pupils, but also from the person with disability him/herself.  However, if a PC is distributed to each and every pupil under the GIGA School Program, this difference and the sense of displeasure might be diminished, and hopefully introducing reasonable accommodations could become easier, too.

Thus, digital innovation is expected to work in favor of persons with disabilities, although that alone will not resolve all problems completely.  Reasonable accommodation will still need to be provided in a way that suits everyone.