2019 East Asia Disability Studies Forum （EADSF） in Wuhan, People’s Republic of China

A comparison of the process of producing an “Easy-Read CRPD”
in Japan and Taiwan
Eunice Ya-Yu KAO
Graduate School of Core Ethics and Frontier Sciences, Ritsumeikan University
E-mail：eunicegau@gmail.com◆ Background・Purpose・Methods【Background―1】【Background―2】【Purpose】

・’Access to Information’ is considered one of the rights ofpeople with disabilities.
・Persons with a visual disability should be able to accessinformation using methods such as Braille or audio recordings.
・Persons with a hearing impairment should be able to accessinformation using methods such as sign language.
・Persons with an intellectual disability should be able to accessinformation provided in plain language, an easy-read style, orother methods.

・The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities（CRPD）is a convention about the ‘rights’ of people withdisabilities.
・Japan and Taiwan both ratified the CRPD in 2014.
・In 2009, an ‘Easy-Read CRPD’ was published in Japan. A
traditional Chinese version was published in Taiwan in 2017.
Both of these ‘Easy-Read CRPD’ texts were published byparents’ associations for people with intellectual disabilities.

・This research aims to discuss the background and process of
producing Easy-Read CRPD texts in Japan and in Taiwan, andalso attempts to determine the role people with intellectual
disabilities played in the creation of these documents.

【Methods】
・Analysis of materials such as program documents and meetingnotes.
・Interviews with the persons in charge and other participants.

◆ Results：the backgrounds between Japan and Taiwan【Japan】【Taiwan】

・The idea came from a scholar：Prof. Osamu Nagase（then Asia Pacific delegate to Inclusion
・The idea came from a parents’ association：the Parents’ Association for Persons with IntellectualInternational）
Disability, Taiwan（PAPID, Taiwan）①Prof. Nagase participated in meetings to negotiate the CRPD draft at the UN, and saw Robert①The staff noticed that other persons with disabilities in Taiwan discussed the CRPD actively but
Martin, a delegate with an intellectual disability from New Zealand, negotiating with otherwithout the voices of persons with intellectual disabilities. The staff therefore came up with thedelegates. This inspired him to transmit the CRPD to people with intellectual disabilities in Japan.
idea of conveying the CRPD to people with intellectual disabilities.
②As the leader of the International Activity Committee of Inclusion Japan, Prof. Nagase was well- ②In addition, in 2014 PAPID invited Prof. Nagase to a conference that aimed to launch Easy-Readpositioned to undertake this project via this organization.
Information to share experiences from Japan and other countries.

◆ Results：the producing process between Japan and Taiwan【Taiwan】March 2017 to November 2017

【Japan】August 2007 to December 2008

・The Study Group  aim to relate CRPD to personal experience and train the participants with・The First Stage：Working Team  rewrite the articles in plain language
intellectual disabilities as lecturers
Members：４persons including 1 person with an intellectual disability, 1 supporter, 1international student, and an expert (Prof. Nagase).
Members：21 people including 10 persons with intellectual disabilities, 7 supporters, 1 expert,
The expert explained the CRPD and its articles, then all of the members rewrote and translated
3 staff of PAPID. There were also 2 government workers who attended some meetings
the articles into plain language after each meeting. In each meeting they worked on 1~2
articles. They then brought their results to the next meeting to discuss with the other
The PAPID staff divided the themes and planned the times of meetings in advance, then all
members. Out of these discussions they produced a draft of the CRPD articles in easy-readmembers discussed the articles in this order.
Japanese.
For example, ‘equity and no discrimination’ for Article 5, ‘about
They started from the articles most directly related to daily life.
disability’ for Articles 6, 7, and 8, ‘legal rights’ for Articles 12 and 13,
For example, they started by rewriting Article 19, which is about‘the right to life of people with disabilities’ for Articles 10, 11, 14, 15,
16 and 17, ‘communication and privacy’ for Articles 9, 21 and 22,‘independent living’, moved on to Article 24, which is about‘independent living’ for Articles 18, 19, 20 and 23, etc. until Article‘education’, and then turned to Article 27, which is about‘occupation and work’.
30.
・The Second Stage： Editorial Board  edit the overall composition
Members：5 board members including 1 person with anEach participant chose 2 themes which interested them to prepare.
There were 2 participants with intellectual disabilities and 1
intellectual disability, 1 supporter, 2 parents, and an expert
supporter who reported on each theme to other participants, and(Prof. Nagase). 2 staff members of Inclusion Japan also participated.
all the participants discussed the topic each time.
The board members worked on illustrations, page layout, work
sheets, etc.
In the process, the PAPID staff revised the articles in plain language
They then organized a ‘study group’ to present the Easy-Read CRPD
in traditional Chinese and worked on illustrations and page layout. In the last study group
draft in order to receive more advice from other people with intellectual disabilities. They thengathering, all the participants reviewed the draft and provided their opinions.
corrected the draft according to this advice.

◆ Discussion and Conclusion【Discussion】

Japan

TaiwanBackground・The idea came from an expert.
・The Easy-Read version was made before thegovernment ratified CRPD.
・Producing the Easy-Read CRPD was the mainpurpose.

Participants

・The participants were diverse, and included
・Without distinguishing stages, the participants werepersons with intellectual disabilities, supporters,
almost completely limited to people with intellectual
an international student, parents, and an expert.
disabilities and supporters who had participated in theAlso, the participants were different in the two
Self-Advocacy Network organized by PAPID.
stages which allowed for varying supplementary・Half of the participants were persons with anviewpoints.
intellectual disability.
・A person with an intellectual disability participated
・The participants gathered from different areas inin each stage.
Taiwan.
・All the participants were from the Kanto Area.

・They were responsible for the same tasks as otherparticipants without disabilities.
The tasks of・They participated in practical work like revisingparticipants
the articles or arranging the page layout, and alsowith
anprovided their opinions.
intellectual・Besides the participants, some other people withdisability
intellectual disabilities provided their opinions as‘inspectors’ in the production process.

Effects

・The idea came from a staff member.
・The Easy-Read version was made after thegovernment ratified CRPD.
・Producing the Easy-Read CRPD was one of several
purposes.

【Conclusion】
・Bothin Japan and in Taiwan, experts came up with the idea of delivering the CRPD in an。
Easy-Read format since people with intellectual disabilities did not know about the CRPD
at that stage. The initiatives were thus focused on the ideas introduced by experts, andpeople with intellectual disabilities who were interested in participating in these programs
were then recruited to take part.
・During the production process, the experts both in Japan and in Taiwan created
opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities to participate that followed the spiritof ‘Nothing about us without us’ which CRPD emphasizes. The participants had equal rolesin the process in both countries. However, unlike the participants with intellectual
disabilities in Japan who were involved in the actual production work, those in Taiwan
focused on providing their experiences and checking what was produced.

・They were responsible for the same tasks as otherparticipants without disabilities.
・The main tasks were to understand the themes and therelated content, and also to provide their experiences
and opinions related to each theme.
・The PAPID staff made the draft and showed it to theparticipants to ‘check’ at the last gathering.

・Looking at the results, the Japanese and Taiwanese Easy-Read CRPD versions are still
considered difficult to understand, but through the opportunities to meet and participate
in the process all participants－not only the participants with intellectual disabilities－
came to understand the legal document and the abstract concept of ‘rights’ to someextent in both countries. Through the production process the participants with intellectual
disabilities recognized what rights they should have, and the parents or supporters who
participated also gradually changed their viewpoints and attitudes toward people with・All the participants understood the CRPD through theintellectual disabilities.
process of discussing it.

・All of the participants understood the CRPD
through the process of producing the Easy- Readversion.
・Including the participants with intellectual
disabilities, all of the participants promoted theCRPD as a person concerned.
・The participants with intellectual disabilities promoted
・During the production process, the participants
the CRPD as a person concerned.
with intellectual disabilities had the opportunity to ・Some participants with intellectual disabilities
get to know other persons with intellectual
recognized their own rights, and became interested indisabilities, and were able to participate actively innews and social events related to human rights and theactivities organized for/with people withrights of people with disabilities. They began tointellectual disabilities.
regularly talk about the news and discuss such stories.
・The parents who participated changed their・After completing the Easy-Read CRPD, theattitude when dealing with people with intellectual
participants with intellectual disabilities felt thisdisabilities.
version was ‘still too hard’.
・After completing the Easy-Read CRPD, theparticipants with intellectual disabilities felt thisversion was ‘still too hard’.

・Like the CRPD, other information that is important for people with disabilities is complex
and difficult to understand, and if experts could spend more time to deliver information inan easy-to-understand way it could be expected to reach to more non-experts and people
concerned.
The Japanese
Easy-Read CRPD
is republished in
September 2019！！