Interview with Japanese international college student with visual impairment
By Yukari Baba, World Institute on Disability
Miwa is an international student from Japan and is currently in a Master's program in Philosophy. In 1978, she first went to the US to study. She is visually impaired, and she is working hard to get her second master's degree at San Francisco State University.
YB: What made you decide to study abroad, particularly in the US?
Miwa: I wanted to learn more about special education for children with disabilities, because I've heard that the American education for children with special needs is more proficient than the Japanese education system. Thus, I wanted to learn more about how children with disabilities can be educated with other non-disabled children in the same classes as well as what are other issues of the educational system that American people face. I also wanted to go to a different country and experience a different culture.
YB: How did you find necessary information for school and other areas of your life? What tools/resources did you use? Did you have any difficulty locating necessary information?
Miwa: When I was in Japan, I didn't have any idea about which American school I was going to attend, because I couldn't get any information about schools. The most difficulty I had in locating necessary information was that I didn't know where to go or who to ask, or how I could get information about schools and information for students with disabilities. At the time in Japan, there were no agencies that I could ask or discuss my concern. I even tried to ask other people who have been to American universities, but no one knew about disability information at their American schools. Thus, I decided to go to a language school in Oakland and looked for a university from there. It was a big challenge for me to go to the US without having any information. I was planning to stay in San Francisco for 2 years, and if I couldn't find a university within the period, I was going to go back to Japan. My friend also wanted to go to a university in San Francisco, so he helped me to get necessary information for a language school in San Francisco. When I was in the language school, I explained that I wanted to study special education and asked many people for information about schools and disability information in San Francisco. Luckily, people who worked at the language school introduced me to a person with a visual impairment, and she referred me to her counselor who helped me to get into the Orientation Center for the Blind. After completing their programs, I applied to San Francisco State University.
YB: Did you experience or notice differences between the two cultures (US-Japan) with regard to disability or being disabled when you first came to the US?
Miwa: Yes. While I was attending the language school, I went to Berkeley with my friends. I saw there were many people with wheelchairs who were at coffee shops, on the street and everywhere. I've never seen or been in such environment in Japan. When I was in Japan, I've seen few people with visual impairments but had never seen people with wheelchairs who were outside. I think it was because the sidewalks weren't designed to be accessible yet, so it was hard for them to move around in the city. While I was staying in Berkeley, I got chance to communicate with them. Also surprising was that American people with disabilities expressed their ideas and thoughts more than their Japanese counterparts did. However, recently I have met some Japanese people with disabilities who have come to the US, and they remind me of those Americans with disabilities in Berkeley. I am seeing that Japanese people with disabilities have been changing and that they now express their feeling and thoughts more than 24 years ago.
YB: How are you currently spending your school life?
Before I came to the US, I heard that American schools were well organized and provided support for all people with disabilities based on their individual needs. For example, every textbook was written in Braille for students with visual impairments, and if one cannot read textbooks in Braille, the schools provided tapes so that they can listen to them and study. However, when I got here, I found that there were no textbooks in Braille. As an international student with a visual disability, not having access to textbooks in Braille influenced my entire school life and study. Since English is my second language, I could not fully understand the lectures, so I was seen as I having two disabilities, visual and hearing impairments. Also, since there were no textbooks in Braille, I needed special support such as someone to read my textbooks to me. In fact, there are some services that the school provides for free.
However, the problem is that those services have time limits, and if I need the services for an extra hour, for example, I have to pay. Thus, I have had to look for volunteers who can read my textbooks. In addition, the school provides tutoring services for people with learning disabilities but not for people with other types of disabilities, which I think is unfair. Since my major is Philosophy, which covers math and logic, I need more than just the reader services, such as tutoring services. I made the request to the school before, but they couldn't find anyone who could be my tutor. The other problem is a lack of students who can teach me Philosophy as well as be a volunteer tutor. Thus, I had to ask the Philosophy Department directly to look for a graduate student who could teach me.
I was very lucky, because I found someone. I usually spend at least 6 to 8 hours a week with the tutor. He basically teaches me what I learn in each class. I record what he teaches me on tape so that I can go home and take notes on important things, which helps me to review for the class as well. It takes a long time to take notes. For example, if I use a 60 minutes tape, it takes 3 hours to take the notes. Although taking notes takes a long time, both the tutor and the recorded tape are very helpful to me, because there are symbols and math covered in the class, and I can't take notes and listen to the lecture at the same time. Thus, I can study at my own pace. I also want to mention that there are a lot of textbooks and other materials to read and paper assignments to complete and exams as well. I spend most of my free time meeting with my readers and tutor to study for classes.
YB: How do you spend time with your classmates?
Miwa: Everyone is so busy, and so am I. After class, some students go to other classes, and some of them go home. Thus, there is really no time for students to get together and chat after class. I also have to meet my readers and tutor after class, so I especially don't have a time to get together and talk even though I want to. Hopefully, I will be able to make my free time more available to do other things besides school. For example, there is a place where students get together and do activities at my school, and I really want to visit there and find out more about what they are doing.
YB: Do you currently have a challenge or concern about your school life?
Miwa: Yes. My major concern is about the school library's study rooms. There are 4 small rooms and a large lounge room for all students with disabilities to utilize. Before, these study rooms were provided to people with visual impairments only. However, the school policy recently has been changed, and these rooms became available to all students with disabilities. And now, there is a lack of rooms for all students with disabilities to utilize. For example, if a person uses a computer in the small room and others are taking exams, everyone is disturbing each other. Especially people like me who have visual impairments and need sounds, such as listening to a tape to study, using the Braille machine, and meeting readers. Other students with visual impairments can understand, so they compromise with each other. However, students with other types of disabilities may be bothered by the noise, especially when they are taking tests. They become annoyed by the sounds, and those students with visual impairments have to leave the room, but there are not any other places where those students with visual impairments can go to study. Thus, there is controversy among students with visual impairments and those with other disabilities. I think more study rooms should be available for students with disabilities in general, and these rooms have to be separated for reading and using computers, since each student has a different need based on what kind of disability each has. For example, students with visual impairments need computers, but we need computers that have software with screen readers.
YB: Tell me about your daily life. What do you do with your private time?
Miwa: Since my school life is so busy, I don't really have any private time. I spend all my free time meeting with my readers and tutor or doing assignments. These readers and tutor are volunteers, so meeting time is totally dependent on when they can meet me, thus, my schedule is very tight.
YB: Was it difficult to find a place to live?
Miwa: I live here by myself, and I didn't have any problem or difficulties when I found this place. When I was looking for a place to live, I asked my friend to help me search the newspapers. Then I made a phone call and met with the landlord. At first, he was concerned if I could use the gas stoves by myself without having any problems, but I have not had any major problems. The only difficult thing living by myself is shopping, which I don't like to do. I usually go to a particular grocery store, but the problem is that they always put the vegetables in different places everyday. If I found a cabbage in a certain place last time, they'll put it in a different place the next time. Thus, it takes time to find the vegetables that I want to buy. I have more difficulty shopping at big stores than small stores. To solve the problem, I always ask my friends to get something for me when they go shopping.
YB: What have been challenges in your life in the US and how have you solved these problems? Do you use any agencies for support or assistance?
Everyday of my life is like a challenge, but the biggest challenge of my life is when I walk down the street. Even though I lived here for long time, it doesn't mean that I'm safe, since people drive so fast and aggressively. I have to be very careful walking down the street, especially when I have to cross the street, because I can't run away if the cars are coming too fast. I use public transportation to go to school and to get home, and since I don't always have assistance, public transportation is very important in my life.
When I had problems in the past, I asked nonprofit organizations for support. However, since most of my problems were about getting Braille services, I've never been able to solve my problems, because there are some nonprofit organizations that provide Braille services, but it takes long time to get books in Braille. Most of the books that I need in Braille are my school textbooks, and I need them in Braille right away because of my class schedule, but translating textbooks into Braille takes a long time and is very expensive. My school also doesn't offer Braille services, so I always have to rely on readers.
YB: What type of information you think is helpful for students with disabilities around the world who wish to study abroad?
I think some type of forum where people with disabilities who are currently studying in other countries or have experienced living in other countries can share their experiences, offer advice, make comments and provide information about their schools and daily life to those who wish to go other countries to study. Since there isn't enough information on schools and disability access in other countries for students with disabilities, providing the information would be very helpful for new students as well as existing students. The information should include schools, daily life, transportation, community support, shopping, safety, and other useful information and resources. I want to help other people with disabilities that wish to go to other countries through providing such information. I think nonprofit organizations can provide some of the information. In addition, since we live in a technology-oriented environment, I think we can utilize those tools to improve our information exchange.
YB: Finally, do you have any final advice or suggestions for people with disabilities who wish to study abroad?
My first bit of advice for those students with disabilities is to study the language of the country where you wish to study hard and to work on your conversational skills as much as you can before you go to study in a different country. From my experience, it is especially difficult for people with visual impairments to live abroad if you don't have enough speaking and listening comprehension skills. For example, there are no textbooks in Braille, so if you don't have listening skills, you might not be able to understand lectures and readers. If you don't have speaking skills, you might not be able to express your thoughts and ideas. Some people think that if they stay 6 months or 1 year in another country, their language skills will improve. I also thought that I was going to improve my English skills if I stayed in the US for 6 months or more, but I found that wasn't true. I now think that my life would have been much easier if I had studied English harder before I came here. Therefore, I suggest people study as much as they can before they go to other countries. My second bit of advice is to express your feelings and thoughts by saying what you really want. Don't wait for someone's help. If you need help, you need to ask for it, and to make your life easier, you have to keep a positive attitude in your life.
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