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Disabled Japanese Student’s iPad Exam Request Leads to Long Battle
In Japan, schools are supposed to make all reasonable accommodations for disabled students. One student says it wasn’t so easy.
By Saki Toi
From dating apps to movie theaters, disabled people in Japan often find it difficult to receive accommodations. Unfortunately, that’s also true for Japan’s disabled students.
Many disabled students can succeed and thrive when schools make reasonable accommodations to meet their needs. However, despite a recently amended law requiring such accommodations, some schools remain unwilling to meet the needs of their disabled students. I recently spoke with a student who shared her story about how a simple request to use an iPad for her high school entrance exam was met with disdain and denial.
A long battle to use an iPad
A student, A (identity hidden by request), who attended a public junior high school in Chiba Prefecture, has a mobility impairment (身体不自由; shintai fujiyū) and holds a Level 1 disability certificate — the most severe classification.
A has upper limb paralysis and cannot raise either arm. Her left hand is completely immobile. Her right hand can move below the wrist, but she can’t move the arm itself.
