Tokyo Independent Living Support Center for the Visually Impaired
Leadership Development Course 2007
Tokyo Independent Living Support Center for the Visually Impaired
Kawada-cho, 10-10, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan, 162-0054
Tel: +81-3-3353-1277, Fax: +81-3-3353-1279
Introduction
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The Tokyo Independent Living Support Center for the Visually Impaired is a rehabilitation institution for persons with visual impairments, established under the Law for the Welfare of Physically Disabled Persons. This Center was designated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government as a facility that provides institutional support services. This rehabilitation institution is mainly for those who acquired impairments in their sight midway in their lives. Some users stay in its dormitory and others commute. It aims for them to acquire various skills necessary for their daily life and social life, thus enabling them to reintegrate in society.
This Center was established by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in May 1983, and is managed by the National Council of the Agencies for the Welfare of the Blind.
<Staff>
| Superintendent : | 1 |
|---|---|
| Instructors : | 9 |
| Nurse : | 1 |
| Clerks : | 3 |
| Cooking staff : | 4 |
| Part-time staff : | 4 (ophthalmologist, physician, dietitian, etc.) |
<Building>
| Lot area : | 2,579.66m2 |
|---|---|
| Floor area : | 1,939.03m2 |
| Structure : |
Reinforced concrete 3 floors above ground, 1 floor underground |
Welfare System for Persons with Visual Impairments
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In Japan there are about 300,000 people with visual impairments who are 18 years old and above, home-based, and issued with the Certificate of Persons with Physical Disabilities.
Once the Certificate is issued to you, you are entitled to use welfare systems according to the degree of your disability. The systems include the provision of pension and allowances, the exemption of taxes, the subsidy for medical expenses, the provision of assistive devices, the provision of tools for daily life, the use of guide-helpers, the discount fares for transportation, and the use of rehabilitation-related institutions.
The rehabilitation-related institutions include rehabilitation institutions for persons with visual impairments (training institution for daily living, training institution for massage/acupuncture/moxibustion) and sheltered workshops for persons with physical disabilities, etc.
The Tokyo Independent Living Support Center for the Visually Impaired is one of such institutions that provides training for daily living (social adaptation).
Community Life Support Programs
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We support persons with visual impairments to live in their communities more easily.
- - Follow-up for those who completed the training
- - Communication and coordination with related organizations
- - Communication and coordination with their families
- - Dispatch of instructors to seminars on guide-helper, etc.
- - Training and improvement of volunteers
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Persons with visual impairments and rehabilitation professionals may use the facilities in the Center
for free of charge.
- - Meeting room (30 chairs, desks)
- - Training room (Japanese-style room with capacity of about 20 people)
- - Cooking practice room (2 cooking counters, 15 chairs, and desks)
If You See a Person with Visual Impairments on the Street…
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If you see a person with a white cane appearing to be lost on the street, or walking on the platform of a station, a crosswalk or near a staircase, please talk to them. These places are very dangerous for persons with visual impairments. Please ask them “is there anything I can do for you?” or “which way are you going?” In case you offer to walk with him/her, lend your elbow as shown in the picture on the right.
