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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
July 19, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| September 15, 2004 |
Discovering Society's Hidden Abilities - Morita
Hideo |
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| Morita Hideo |
When Morita Hideo, CEO of Morita Corporation and the son of the Sony Corporations's founder, was asked
to be the spokesperson for the 2005 Special Olympics, his first response was to ask what the Special
Olympics was. "I don't know anything about the Special Olympics four years ago and I was amazed
that everyone knows about it in America and Europe," said Morita. "I thought it was great
thing, so I said okay." Since then, Morita has met Special Olympic athletes around the world,
soaking up information until he's become an expert and an outspoken advocate for the mentally challenged.
In 2002, he stood at the closing ceremony of the Summer Special Olympics in Dublin with the Governor
of Nagano prefecture, where the 2005 Winter Special Olympics will be held, to receive the Game's official
flag. |
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| Poster for the 2005 Nagano Special Olympics by artist Leroy Neiman |
The history of the Special Olympics started modestly in 1963 at a day camp Eunice Kennedy Shriver
held at her home for people with intellectual disabilities. Seeing that they were far more capable
in sports than experts thought, she founded the Special Olympics in 1968. The movement has now spread
beyond the United States and it was made an official partner of the International Olympic Committee
in 1988. Involving over one million athletes spread across 150 countries and competing in 20,000 qualifying
rounds worldwide each year, the Special Olympics has become a formidable movement. According to Morita,
the 2002 Dublin Special Olympics had more athletes than the 2004 Athens Olympics. "It was one
of the largest Special Olympics in history, it had 10,000 athletes and the whole nation of Ireland
became aware of the Special Olympics and people with mental handicaps, so I think it was great success." |
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| Morita and fellow guest speaker Japanese film maker Tezuka Makoto |
The Nagano Special Olympics is an event of firsts - the first Winter Games outside the US and the
first Special Olympics in Asia. Morita said that being successful in Asia is an especially challenging
job, as lingering Confucian ideas tend to push those with intellectual disabilities behind the scenes.
Morita sees Nagano as the perfect chance to spark a discussion in Japan. "I told people in the
government that this is one of the gateways to bring it into the open." Towards this, he has
been holding monthly study sessions in Tokyo that attract TV stars, singers, newscasters, professional
athletes and others who are influential in public life. "The good news is that everyone I talked
with was very interested and wanted to help. But the bad news was that the economy started going down,
so fundraising has become difficult." |
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| Adaptive Ski Instructor Ikeda Kazuo |
Ikeda Kazuko, a Japanese national skiing champion, knows a thing or two about the patience involved
in understanding those living with intellectual disabilities and their fight for recognition in society.
Ikeda started skiing at six years old and won the national junior championship at the age of 16. By
the time she ended her racing career in 1999, which Morita had sponsored, she had collected world
championships in the Super G, Downhill and Slalom. It was then that Morita, who also owns Arai Mountain
ski resort in Niigata prefecture, asked her if she would help mentally and physically challenged people
to learn to ski. "My plans just fit with his plans and I could still ski," Ikeda said. After
six months studying at the Adaptive Skiing Program in Vail, Colorado, she returned as the only adaptive
ski instructor in Japan. "She is also the only Olympian who has a disabled ski instructor license," Morita
said proudly. |
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| An adaptive instructor at Arai Mt. resort with a student |
Now a four seasons veteran of adaptive skiing, Ikeda runs the disabled program at Arai Mt. using modified
equipment such as guide straps and specialized techniques she has passed on to other instructors. "If
they can't use their legs, we have to be their legs. If they can't see we have to be their eyes." Adaptive
ski instruction is a physical demanding job, but she said she finds it rewarding. "I could see
a lot of ability, which they didn't believe they had. Especially the parents didn't know their children
had this ability that we found." Ikeda still finds herself surprised at the hidden abilities
of her students. One example she gives is of a five year old autistic child who couldn't talk, but
had perfect balance and would ski for up to six hours at a time. "We didn't tell him how to do
anything, but he could do it. We were amazed by this." |
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| An open session about how Japanese society deals with people with intellectual disabilities |
Morita said the great variance in ability and situation among people with disabilities should be recognized. "It's
easy to see someone is in a wheelchair and think they all have the same disease or handicap since
they were born." This lack of understanding contributes to segregating children with disabilities
from their peers at a young age and a worse tendency to write them off simply because of a lack of
contact. "How would you know he has much better memory than you? Or maybe he is better at painting
or playing the piano. But perhaps he doesn't speak, maybe he's autistic, but people say he's mentally
retarded." Morita said the games will be a success if people start to ask more about who is abled
and disabled. "The point is to not differentiate them, but to accept them. That through the games
they will give - that [giving] is the most important part of the games." |
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| Morita talking on board Peace Boat |
Morita points out that while those people with physical disabilities require changing a building physically,
such as installing ramps and widening hallways, the shift those people with intellectual disabilities
need is much harder, because it requires a change in thinking. "Not many people know that there
are a greater number of mentally handicapped people than physical handicapped people in the world.
The Games themselves take a radically different approach to competition, with all athletes advancing
to the final and receiving placement ribbons along with the traditional gold, silver and bronze medals.
Another characteristic many applaud is taking the focus of how many medals a country can win - with
atheletes competing as individuals, not by region or country. There are already steps towards this,
with the 2004 Athens Olympics holding an exhibition wheelchair competition - the first step to including
disabled athletes, rather than holding two separate events." |
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Resources
Special Olympics – www.specialolympics.org
2005 Nagano Special Olympics – www.2005sowwg.com
Special Olympics Nippon – www.specialolympics-nippon.gr.jp
Vail Adaptive Ski School Program – www.vail.snow.com/info/mtn.adaptive.asp
Arai Mountain and Spa – www.araimt.com
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