{"id":2508,"date":"2017-04-24T17:04:18","date_gmt":"2017-04-24T08:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/?p=2508"},"modified":"2018-09-06T15:30:41","modified_gmt":"2018-09-06T06:30:41","slug":"making-the-day-everyone-is-different-and-thats-ok-a-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/news-en\/2017\/04\/24\/2508\/","title":{"rendered":"Making the day \u201ceveryone is different and that\u2019s OK\u201d a reality"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Making the day \u201ceveryone is different and that\u2019s OK\u201d a reality<a href=\"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/assets\/uploads\/2017\/04\/3fef15e2e61d7dc6e2bc96b147b8279c.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2443 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/assets\/uploads\/2017\/04\/3fef15e2e61d7dc6e2bc96b147b8279c.jpg\" alt=\"(\u753b\u50cf)05_\u30b3\u30e9\u30e0 \u5fd7\u78e8\u6751\u3055\u30932\" width=\"153\" height=\"139\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">Saki Shimamura, Full-time Contract Staff, Office for Students with Disabilities<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s the midday break, and I am pushing a student in a wheelchair to a classroom. There is a long line of people in front of the elevator. A sign by the elevator reads, \u201cGive priority to those in wheelchairs,\u201d but nobody is paying us any mind. \u201cExcuse me,\u201d I say. \u201cCould you please let the student in the wheelchair on first?\u201d Finally everyone notices us, and the line parts to let us through.<\/p>\n<p>At the Disabled Student Services Office we provide disabled students with the support they need to pursue their education, but I wonder if support is all that is needed? Are disabled students able to get the same level of enjoyment and fulfillment out of university life as non-disabled students? I think we need to be a bit more aware, a bit more understanding, and a bit more proactive about helping those around us. If people waiting atelevators would give way without having to be asked, this simple act alone would help lessen the barriers to movement that students in wheelchairs face.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2473\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/assets\/uploads\/2017\/04\/fe95075e114b62485a864b8014fd2b28.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2473\" src=\"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/assets\/uploads\/2017\/04\/fe95075e114b62485a864b8014fd2b28-610x458.jpg\" alt=\"(\u753b\u50cf)05_\u30b3\u30e9\u30e0 \u7686\u3055\u3093\" width=\"236\" height=\"177\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/assets\/uploads\/2017\/04\/fe95075e114b62485a864b8014fd2b28-610x458.jpg 610w, https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/assets\/uploads\/2017\/04\/fe95075e114b62485a864b8014fd2b28-360x270.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/assets\/uploads\/2017\/04\/fe95075e114b62485a864b8014fd2b28-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/assets\/uploads\/2017\/04\/fe95075e114b62485a864b8014fd2b28-940x705.jpg 940w, https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/assets\/uploads\/2017\/04\/fe95075e114b62485a864b8014fd2b28-720x540.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/assets\/uploads\/2017\/04\/fe95075e114b62485a864b8014fd2b28.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 236px) 100vw, 236px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u25b2A group photo from the student social held at the end of the semester. Here is diversity captured in a single image.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>When we hear the word \u201csupport,\u201d we often interpret it as meaning \u201cspecial treatment.\u201d In reality, there is nothing \u201cspecial\u201d about it. \u201cSupport\u201d simply means enabling disabled students have the same access to their environment that their non-disabled peers enjoy. It is only once disabled students receive support that they are on the same level playing field as everyone else. I myself have a hearing impairment, and without support I would not be able to fulfill all my work duties. Once I am provided with the appropriate support and consideration, however, I am able perform on par with everyone else, being productive and giving back to my community.<\/p>\n<p>In a sense, diversity is something we think of as \u201cperfectly ordinary.\u201d My hope is that this \u201cperfectly ordinary\u201d mindset will become the \u201cperfectly ordinary\u201d mindset at Waseda, where a bit more awareness and accommodation can create a vibrant daily campus environment for everyone.<\/p>\n<p>\u203b<a href=\"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/news\/2017\/03\/08\/2308\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SANKAKU News No.17 (Japanese ver.)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Making the day \u201ceveryone is different and that\u2019s OK\u201d a reality Saki Shimamura, Full-time Contract Staff, Offic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2443,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[94,120],"class_list":["post-2508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","tag-general-en","tag-newsletters-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2508"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5088,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2508\/revisions\/5088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/diversity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}