Nursery for disabled children helps moms return to work

Whoopee! One child care center for air use needs children. I’m sure that is going to make a huge impact in a city of 20 million people, NOT! There is a special needs school near my place in northern Chiba for teens and adults. Parents are traveling up to 50k each way to bring their kids to this school. Plus, the government is very stingy with their subsidies for special needs children. One of my friends baby girl was born with a half formed eye and a slight mental disability. She was officially blind in that eye, but because the eye was present they refused to count her as handicapped and refused any kind of special needs subsidy. My friend left Japan and now has full special needs subsidy for her and a special needs school for her to attend. It’s hard enough for normal people to get adequate child care in Japan. Good luck with special needs children.

To meet such demand, the government has started subsidizing local governments so staff can be trained in programs to provide medical care, in addition to providing funds to dispatch nurses.

In the 21st century its sad that seriously disabled babies are still being born and in such numbers. Japanese doctors do not even so much as recommend tests for various things, not even something as common as Down's. And so many ultra-sound technicians are not skilled enough to notice problems. And when your baby is born with unexpected defects they just shrug their shoulders and say that the system will pay for it (it pays more than you might know), as if money will compensate for your future hardship and money is growing on trees. I mean if you decide you want a baby with defects after you have been notified in advance, that's great and more power to you. But you should be the one paying, not me, and not the system which is already deep in the red.

Japan needs more kids, but obviously it needs more healthy and normal kids to carry this country forth. But, you know, matriarchal thinking being what it is....

In the 21st century its sad that seriously disabled babies are still being born and in such numbers. Japanese doctors do not even so much as recommend tests for various things, not even something as common as Down's. And so many ultra-sound technicians are not skilled enough to notice problems. And when your baby is born with unexpected defects they just shrug their shoulders and say that the system will pay for it (it pays more than you might know), as if money will compensate for your future hardship and money is growing on trees. I mean if you decide you want a baby with defects after you have been notified in advance, that's great and more power to you. But you should be the one paying, not me, and not the system which is already deep in the red.

Japan needs more kids, but obviously it needs more healthy and normal kids to carry this country forth. But, you know, matriarchal thinking being what it is....

Let's be honest here; what you're saying - in thinly-veiled fashion - is that it's sad that a wholesale eugenics program hasn't been adopted in the 21st century. Judging people according to their social and/or economic utility is dehumanising and abhorrent, regardless of their physical or mental abilities.

As a parent of just such a "special needs" child, I will merely point out the vast difference between "choosing" to have such a baby and merely coming to accept it. Count your blessings that you can never know the vast depth and breadth of hardship that parents of these children face on a daily basis, including attitudes such as your own.

Does that mean I regret any part of my situation or would change it if I could? Not a single thing about it.

If you can't see the value of such people beyond their impact on GDP, it is you who are deficient.

Perhaps this might be better framed as giving parents of special needs children the extra assistance they need, rather than helping "moms return to work". It sounds like the children and their families would benefit from specialized expert help even if the mother does not return to work. Giving the child extra socialization and time with someone who knows appropriate developmental activities is more important than whether the mother is working. A working mother is not a sign of a successful (or unsuccessful) family.

Count your blessings that you can never know the vast depth and breadth of hardship that parents of these children face on a daily basis

In fact, I am not so blessed. That's right. I don't want to go into detail of my personal situation, but I am the father of a mentally and physically disabled child and I know first hand the incompetence and stupidity that let that happen. You should presume less.

Let's be honest here; what you're saying - in thinly-veiled fashion - is that it's sad that a wholesale eugenics program hasn't been adopted in the 21st century.

I quote myself below. Please tell me what part of you be you without me or us confused you:

I mean if you decide you want a baby with defects after you have been notified in advance, that's great and more power to you. But you should be the one paying, not me, and not the system which is already deep in the red.

In fact, I am not so blessed. That's right. I don't want to go into detail of my personal situation, but I am the father of a mentally and physically disabled child and I know first hand the incompetence and stupidity that let that happen. You should presume less.

Perhaps I should, but if the presumption is that a parent is able to find worth in the existence of their child - quite apart from their ability to contribute financially to wider society - then I will wear my naivety as a sign of virtue.

Let's be honest here; what you're saying - in thinly-veiled fashion - is that it's sad that a wholesale eugenics program hasn't been adopted in the 21st century.

I quote myself below. Please tell me what part of you be you without me or us confused you:

I mean if you decide you want a baby with defects after you have been notified in advance, that's great and more power to you. But you should be the one paying, not me, and not the system which is already deep in the red.

It's this part that's fairly hard to interpret any other way:

In the 21st century its sad that seriously disabled babies are still being born and in such numbers. Japanese doctors do not even so much as recommend tests for various things, not even something as common as Down's [SIC]. And so many ultra-sound technicians are not skilled enough to notice problems.

I can't speak to the particulars of your case, nor is it in any way my place to do so (indeed, being sidelined by the mainstream is one of the hardest aspects of this to come to grips with, I'm finding), but I would ask you to extend the same courtesy to others in facing their own unique circumstances. I'm loathe to condemn anyone for how they react in such challenging circumstances.

Wow, so some of you can’t even be happy at the news of disabled children getting the care that they need, and the mothers of such children being able to go back to work so they can provide for their families, huh? Boy, I would hate to be like you people.

Have to agree with you JCosplay.