Do autistic individuals growing up in Japan have it harder or easier than in the West?

8 comments

1. 10 years in the Japanese school system for me and I’ve met many people with handicaps including autism. in my opinion, Japan is doing the best they can to accommodate the handicapped and it is generally a nice place – comparable to the USA. There are a few big differences. Dwarfism is considered enough of a handicap where Japanese little people are typically shipped off to a school in Shiga prefecture. Handicap children tend to have their own high schools, and some children who might be considered able to kick it with the general education students will be placed in all handicap curriculum I think quicker than would be the case in the US. To generalize, they are more segregated. But the community is incredibly supportive in general.

2. Interesting idea.

   I think you are right with your first guess – Japan has so many conventions that the band of social acceptance is so narrow, which means that many people who would have been “normal” in other cultures are unable to be “normal” in Japan. But the flip side of this is that the people who don’t fit in are in good company – as there are a lot of them – and there are numerous rich sub-cultures, who accept – and are accepted – not to be “normal”.

   An example of one of these subcultures is “otaku”, some of whom might be autistic, but Japan doesn’t have a great attitude towards mental health so a lot of it is undiagnosed.

3. As an autistic person myself who hasn’t lived in Japan, I can only speculate. I would say the dishonesty and indirectness of their culture would piss me off. However, since a lot of cultures have it and we have to adjust anyway, Japan seems to have clear rules, making it much easier. Because of my enhanced senses I can not eat the food of most countries. They tend to mix tons of flavours together. However, Japan has a weird thing going on where I can eat almost anything. The food seems to be harmonious or something… maybe that’s just me. A fun thing to add: I started learning Japanese mostly because my autism was super duper happy about the complex characters and how they all fit together like a puzzle.
   I would say that, considering the very clear rules, autistic kids might have it easier in Japan and avoid having the lasting harm of repeated social rejection from learning by trial and error. From experience I had to learn the social rules like you would do a school subject. My most famous blunder was when I was a kid and walked up to someone and noted. :”Wow, you are reaally ugly.” (not old enough to know the difference between my opinions and facts) And when told not to say that I responded: “Why? It’s true, is it not?” Well… Painful memories, haha

4. Studied abroad in Japan for a while, have autism. Honestly, it didn’t really feel much different. I had a few issues that popped up that made things more difficult (my undiagnosed autoimmune disease for one) but overall people were relatively understanding and would give me my space. I would apologize, like I do in the US and everything would be forgotten.

   Honestly, I preferred it? I always feel pressured here in the US because being introverted is discouraged but the ‘keep to yourself’ culture in Japan is very nice for someone like me who hates making forced expressions and whatnot. Everyone pretty much leaves you to yourself. People still try to interact with you of course but they were usually super pleasant things like, “Oh what state are you from? My son is working in California!” instead of “you should smile more!”

   I’m sure this would be different for an actual Japanese person but people with disabilities seem to get accomodations pretty well in school at least (we visited a highschool while I was there). And they’re huge on accomodations for the elderly which makes it easier for other disabilities as well in day to day life. People also love masks and using one to hide your expressions isn’t unusual.

   The biggest issue would probably be the workplace but even the normal people have issues with it in Japanese society so it’s not limited to only autistic people.

5. I lived in Japan while in grad school and upon coming back, befriended a bunch of SAH Japanese moms in the area (spouses were moved to the US for a few years for work). We chatted about schools a lot since all of our kids are in elementary and they liked to talk about what was different. I did not tell them my son was autistic. However we ended up having a conv about accommodations. Tldr is, Japan has zero accommodations and treat any neurodivergence as a discipline problem. They said that teachers are clueless about basic things like adhd.

   Please do not romanticize Japan as this haven for introverts. Social rules are different, sure, but there is enormous pressure to be part of the group and fit in.

6. I can’t speak from first hand experience, but I did watch a Japanese drama a while ago on this topic. Might help to shed some insight on this, not sure whether it might be a bit outdated but I enjoyed it so thought I’d share. It’s called Hikari to Tomo ni or With the Light.

7. It’s nice that so many people posting here have had nice experiences with the school system.

   I work at and with high schools. High school is not mandatory education for Japan so this may eschew my experiences from others.

   When a student has a disability in Japanese high schools

   1- it is completely confidential. As in, only the administration and home room teachers know anything and are forbidden from communicating that to anyone else. This means that teachers never know what help a student may need or any accomodations they may need to make.

   2 – The student is required to do exactly the same thing as all other students. This means students struggling with group anxiety problems just shut down and can barely function in some classes and students with autism are unanimously labled “troubled.”

   3 – . . . And that’s it. Literally. Any unique situation any student has, disability based or otherwise, is ignored and they are told that this is just the way things are. This is all the law requires and let me tell you, Japanese teachers are beaten into believing that they should NEVER do anything they don’t absolutely have to from the first day they start teaching.

   Hell, I had a student’s mom die after a long and painful struggle with cancer a couple years ago on the first day of exams. Our fucking school required her to come back to the school and take the exams that week or get all 0s.

   Another was barely holding it together with the amount of stress and mental burden she was under during all of high school. Last semester of her last year she just stopped coming and wouldn’t leave her house. Went to the doctor and everything. The schools official response was to call and tell her mom that she’d be failed out unless she showed up. Cool.

   Now, I want to be clear. I don’t like the American education system, or even american in general most of the time. However, there are several laws in place to MAKE schools and teachers respect and acknowledge students who need different kinds of education. And that’s. . . That’s a lot more than I’ve ever seen the Japanese law do. If I had to choose a place for my autistic family to go to school, it would be the US without a second fucking thought.

   (Obligatory part saying that these are only my experiences and knowledge of Japanese law. Im not a Japanese teacher and don’t have the skill to study their teaching law personally)

   So in summary, at the very least, I’ve never heard a Japanese school be respectful of a disability in my life and google the IDEA act. It’s worth a read. This is a good topic to talk about.

8. It depends, I often hear that Japan is a paradise for neurodivergent people – bowing instead of touching hands, not too much direct eye contact, but a lot of my ND friends have struggled and weren’t given appropriate accommodations for their disabilities, indirectness can leave people incredibly confused and anxious on whether they did something “wrong” but aren’t told, the sagamihara stabbing left a sour taste as it revealed how some Japanese really feel towards those with disabilities, that “we’re a burden and need to be hidden away from public view”