Students
Receiving support
1. About disabilities
Behind the various stumbling blocks and difficulties experienced during college life, such as studying, self-management, human relations, and job hunting, there may be a disability. Disability is generally considered a medical abnormality (sometimes referred to as impairment), but in reality, it is a state of being disabled in interaction with one’s surrounding environment.
For example, many people in society wear glasses or contact lenses. Most of these people have what is medically called low vision (“impairment”). However, these people are rarely considered “disabled.” This is because there are many such people around them, and their disability is not caused by the use of glasses or contact lenses.
Disability is a condition that is created through interaction with the surrounding environment. The same thing may be happening to you when you stumble or have difficulties. For example, you may find it difficult to retain what a person is saying, but you can understand it if you read it in writing. In this case, you may not be able to understand a lecture or remember what you promised to do in a conversation with someone. But if there are handouts or if you can communicate via email or text, those problems may not arise. It is that kind of thing.
2. About support
An environment in which people with low vision can use glasses or contacts prevents a medical impairment from becoming a social disability. Receiving college support is akin to using these glasses or contact lenses. With the proper use of what you need, you can reduce or overcome stumbling blocks and difficulties. Asking for handouts or having important information left in writing can be sufficient to reduce stumbling. Such assistance may not be as common as glasses or contacts, but it is just as “normal” as using glasses or contacts.
Nagoya University has the Student Support as a contact point for this kind of support. The Abilities Support Center provides support for students who are experiencing difficulties or stumbling blocks in their studies. In addition, it also provides support for problems and challenges in daily life as part of disabilities, such as difficulty living alone (shopping, keeping things neat, cleaning, money management, laundry, bathing, changing clothes, etc.), concerns about social relationships (not being able to do as well as others, not communicating well, not understanding why relationships are important, not being able to chit-chat or talk in vain, etc.), and use of their leisure time (lack of hobbies, not knowing what to do in their free time, ending up tired and sleeping on their days off, killing time playing games or surfing the Internet, etc.).You are welcome to come and use the help you need before your disability gets worse.
Voice of students
Mx. FM (School of Education)
It was in the middle of the spring semester of my 4th year that I first discovered the Abilities Support Center and the academic learning support. It was more than six months after I had returned to campus after taking a leave of absence due to a mental and physical illness.
I was prone to physical instability due to a chronic illness, and although I had pushed myself to lead a “normal” life as a student during my first and second years, this gradually became difficult (and I was forced to take a leave of absence). Before receiving the support, the most difficult thing for me was that I could not take a day off due to my health condition, even if I wanted to. If I took a break, I would not be able to keep up, and my grades would drop. I felt I had reached my limit in trying to do my best alone within the existing system.
The Abilities Support Center held several meetings with me to discuss my situation and what I was having trouble with. They listened to me very kindly and prepared a list of accommodations for my learning, such as “understanding an occasional absence due to a chronic illness and distributing materials by e-mail or other means when absent.” Once my request was approved by the university, my academic life became much easier.
Above all, I was very grateful that I did not have to push my body beyond its limits. I was able to concentrate on my studies and keep my grades at a high level because I felt less anxious.
With this ongoing support, I was able to complete the remainder of my student life (although it took me two more years to graduate). At the graduation ceremony, I was able to honestly think, “I am glad my effort was rewarded,” and “I had fun,”feeling that it was because of the presence of the Ability Support Center and my courage to take the first step to seek their support. I cannot thank them enough.
If you are reading this sentence right now, and you are feeling a sense of frustration that you are not spending your student life as you would like, I would like you to consult with the Ability Support Center at least once. What you think “it is nothing serious” or “I can’t do it because I am lazy” may not actually be a lack of effort on your part.
Being able to say “help” when you are in trouble is a very important skill to have when living in society in the future, and the more people you can rely on, the better. I hope you will gain such an asset during the rest of your student life.
Mx. YA (School of Education)
I tend to procrastinate, and I am not very good at motivating myself to study. Professors and TAs at the university would help me with how to study but not with how to manage my motivation, so I had no one around me to talk to about it.
In addition, because I get tired easily and tend to push myself too hard, my depression sometimes worsened, and I was unable to do anything, leading to the issue of managing my physical condition without overexerting myself.
In response to this, at the Office for Students with Disabilities (now the Ability Support Center), I had regular meetings with support staff to discuss my assignments, thesis, and how to study for graduate school entrance examinations. At the meetings, My counselor helped me to think together about how I could tackle my studies and pointed out that I was working too hard!
When I talked about my problems, I was worried that people would think I was just being lazy, but the counselor listened to me without negativity, so I felt comfortable talking about my problems. Also, I was really troubled by the fact that I was not motivated and could not make progress in my studies, so I was encouraged that the counselor was thinking about it with me. Since it was difficult for me to realize that I was pushing myself too hard, the meeting helped me to reflect on my physical condition and workload.
In addition, the Office for Students with Disabilities allowed me to study by myself when the office was open, which was helpful to me as I am more motivated in an environment where people I know are watching me.
About job hunting
Nagoya University also offers individualized support for job hunting. It offers advice on how to balance your strengths and weaknesses while making career choices. For more information, please visit the Career Support Center.