A lesson on Learning Disabilities

Staff Meeting
I had an interesting cultural experience during our monthly staff meeting last week. I was sitting there, going through the 30 or so handouts we had been given, when suddenly I see this:

kanji kanji (kanji I know) kanji kanji LD: ADHD kanji kanji。。。

I was intrigued. LD as in “Learning Disabilities?” Given my background knowledge on the subject, I was a little surprised and my curiosity was aroused when I realized Learning Disabilities (“LD” – Japan loves acronyms) was on the agenda for a staff discussion.

LD and Japan
From the time I first started to seriously research the educational system in Japan, I have been told that Japan (yes, as a country) has a serious dearth of understanding for (or does not accommodate to) learning disabilities, at least to the extent that we do in America. This seems like a harsh description, but with the firm discipline (common across the board), I can see how some may view the system as unsympathetic to certain disabilities or special needs. We have some ‘problem students’ (as they might be labeled in America), but they are usually penalized for their behavior and kept in a straight line. If they don’t do well in class, they go to extra classes. There are seven homerooms in each grade, some divided by level or interest, but I would assume disabilities would probably classified as a qualifier a lower-ability level course.
I leaned over and asked my (bilingual) coworker what the discussion was about, and he told me there was going to be an upcoming workshop on learning disabilities. Apparently, there has been a movement in the last year or two to increase knowledge and understanding of “LD”, sparked by a few public cases involving extreme situations or examples of learning disibilities. Asbergers has been on the forefront of these discussions, and while serious cases of other disabilities are being addressed (like EBD, ADD and ADHD), I was told they are all bucketed under the ADHD umbrella (which makes me think there is still room to grow in this learning arena). Good to know my school is picking up on the trend, though!