Special Feature

Support for Persons with Developmental DisorderEﬀorts on Collabora-ng with Local Communi-es in ASEAN Countries to
Support Persons with Developmental Disorders
Research Director Masafumi Hizume
An overview of the research 9tled "Current Status and Issues of Healthcare
Policies for Persons with Developmental Disorders in Southeast Asia" whichstarted in December 2021, was introduced in newsleCer No. 73 issued in July
2022.
Following that, a conference was held in Indonesia in August 2022 with thepar9cipa9on of government oﬃcials, members of disability organiza9ons,
and researchers from both countries. This conference aims to exchange
informa9on on eﬀorts and issues related to support on developmental
disorders and to discuss future collabora9on.
Currently we are conduc9ng literature reviews and interviews focusing on
three par9cularly populous ASEAN member countries: Indonesia, thePhilippines, and Vietnam. In this ar9cle, we will introduce several points wehave iden9ﬁed through this process that prompt considera9on about Japan's
ini9a9ves.
I.

Advantages of unifying “developmental disorders” as one group
Based on Japan's Act on Support for Persons with Development Disabili9es,
developmental disorders are deﬁned as brain dysfunc9on that is generally
expressed during earlier age such as au9sm, learning disorders, aCen9on deﬁcit
hyperac9vity disorder, etc. This scope is unique when viewed from an interna9onal
perspec9ve since many countries have only men9oned au9sm in their legal systems.
During our visits, we asked local communi9es about their perspec9ves on thismaCer.
The response we received from various perspec9ves was that "rather thanbasing ac9vism solely on one type of disorder (au9sm), it is beCer to categorize alltypes of disabili9es that require appropriate understanding and considera9on fromthe educa9onal stage onwards into one group, in order to increase society'sunderstanding."

II.

Prevalence Issue of Persons with Developmental Disorders
Japan has made some eﬀorts to determine the number of individuals withdevelopmental disorders through surveys such as the Ministry of Health, Labour andWelfare's "Survey on the Diﬃculty of Living" and the Ministry of Educa9on, Culture,Sports, Science and Technology's "Survey on Students Requiring Special Educa9onal
Support in Regular Classes." However, there are s9ll challenges in accurately
grasping the “numbers” that represent the actual situa9on.
The United Na9ons recognizes that in various countries there are prejudicesagainst disabili9es and some individuals cannot access medical diagnoses, so they
are developing easily answerable methods (short sets of ques9ons) based on theInterna9onal Classiﬁca9on of Func9oning, Disability and Health (ICF) for surveys.
Indonesia and the Philippines are using ICT to determine the "numbers" whilereferring to such movements. Japan should also consider using that as references.

III. Support for Post-adulthood
In any of the countries—Indonesia, the Philippines, or Vietnam—have started
some eﬀorts raising the awareness and providing educa9on for developmental
disorders during childhood period. During the conference held in Indonesia in
August 2022 (see ﬁgure), many par9cipants expressed that there has also been
increasing interest among families (parents and siblings) of individuals with
developmental disorders in "employment support" and "securing housing such asgroup homes, and training for caregivers" for post-adulthood.
The underlined part in Ar9cle 24 about "research and survey", which stated that
"The government shall endeavor to understand the actual situa9on of persons with
developmental disabili9es, taking into account gender, age, and other aspects..."was added in the amendment of Japan's Act on Support for Persons with
Development Disabili9es in 2016 to clarify that the focus should also be placed
during the elderhood.
Addressing support for post-adulthood is an ongoing challenge that Japan must
work on to establish a suppor9ve framework. We think we can engage in various
trials and errors together with individuals from ASEAN countries in tackling this issue.

(Figure) Indonesia – Japan Roundtable Discussion on Developmental Disorders (August2, 2020)