HEALTH-JAPAN: Intellectually Disabled Strive Hard For Recognition

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

NAGANO, Japan, Mar 11 2005 (IPS) - Fifty-year-old Yae Abe seems to have a gargantuan task ahead of her, in making Japanese accept people with intellectual disabilities.

”Its hard for me to speak out despite my deep commitment to bringing hope to the intellectually disabled in Japan who continue to face discrimination in society,” said the soft spoken ambassador to the Special Olympics World Winter Games.

The eight-day sporting competition for people with intellectual disabilities, which ended here last weekend, brought together a total of 1,829 athletes from 84 countries. It also attracted about 150,000 spectators.

But this year’s Games also had something special in them. Problems concerning intellectually disabled people were also highlighted at various symposiums and in studies held in parallel with the event.

Abe was born intellectually disabled and lived with her parents who smothered her with love and affection. Nonetheless, they did not believe she could live independently.

But she proved them wrong. With the help of activists and supporters, Abe now lives in a group home for the mentally challenged and is an active member of a lobbying group that is involved in getting Japanese with intellectual disabilities accepted by society.

”We play the role of supporters who only assist the intellectually disabled to speak for themselves. This movement has proved that Japanese with disabilities can also be valuable members in society,” explained Chihiro Okaniwa, who works as a supporter for Abe.

Abe’s determination has paid off. Today, she is a tireless lobbyist and has devoted her life to campaigning for the acceptance of people like herself.

Last year she visited New Zealand, after Sweden, to promote the rights of the intellectually disabled. In Japan, she always has a tight schedule of meetings and discussions

According to disability experts, intellectually disabled people are the worst discriminated in the world because they are seen as mentally incapable of becoming responsible citizens.

Research carried out by Special Olympics experts indicate that this discrimination is very much responsible for the low-self esteem many of the disabled athletes suffer from. This low self-esteem also exacerbates medical problems such as tooth-decay and visual and hearing impairment.

It was found, for example, that 20 percent of 1,590 athletes who underwent medical checkups during the games had never taken an eye test before, and 45 percent of them needed to have their vision corrected by wearing glasses or other means.

A female Ugandan athlete who had a speech impediment was found to actually have a hearing problem that if treated, could allow her to hold a conversation.

Mark Wagner, director of Special Olympics Health and Research Initiatives, said mentally disabled people had difficulty gaining the appropriate medical treatment.

He said they had problems in describing their symptoms, while few doctors treated them properly.

The medical problems of intellectually disabled people are just one example of how hard it is for them to be accepted in society.

”Our research shows that changing attitudes is most important if we are to respect these people,” said Gary Siperstein, of Massachusetts University, who studies how intellectually disabled people participate in society. He also is the leading researcher in the Special Olympics project.

Siperstein pointed out that while ”there are laws to protect their rights, discrimination continues unless people change deep-rooted myths about the intellectually disabled as being a social burden.

A recent survey conducted the Special Olympics research project, showed that two- thirds of Japanese adults interviewed thought that intellectually disabled people should be in special schools and 40 percent said the sector had no social skills.

Moreover, studies have indicated that the Japanese media very often portrayed them as pitiful and helpless rather than focusing on their strengths.

Prof. Osamu Nagase, who heads the Japan Disability Forum, told IPS the biggest challenge in Japan is to change the concept that intellectually disabled people must adjust to Japanese society rather than the other way around.

”People with Down Syndrome or other intellectual disabilities rarely speak for themselves. They are perceived as weak leading to cases of abuse and violence against these people,” he explained.

Nagase is lobbying to allow the participation of the mentally challenged in the enactment of disability laws.

Currently, 400,000 intellectually disabled people are registered with the government in Japan. About 120,000 of them are living independently in institutions. Out of this number, 60,000 are employed mostly in low paying jobs in factories.

Abe, herself, works in a Nissan automobile factory.

Activists are also pinning their hopes on the United Nations Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, presently in the draft stage, which they see as a landmark in their movement.

The international convention is expected to categorise the intellectually disabled separately, as opposed to classifying them as persons suffering from mental illnesses.

”An international recognition of the capabilities of the intellectually disabled is important against a growing environment of cutting back on welfare support for the socially handicapped in Japan,” said Okaniwa.