By Fumie Yoshida

People with mental disorders (MD) have some behavioral problems and intellectual obstacles in school life and in their daily lives. There is no legal definition for MD, but they can receive welfare. However, on standardized intelligence tests like Tanaka Binet, WISK, and K-ABC, if the IQ sore is between 70~75, people are regard as having MD.

MD is classified into four categories. In the first category, 80 percent of people have mild MD and their IQ is between 50~70. A person with mild MD generally has good health. The remaining 20 percent who are in the other three categories have serious health complications like severe paralysis, epilepsy and heart disease. MD is either inherited or is caused by a genic mutation.

Thus, MD is classified by IQ, and the line between ordinary people and those with MD isn't clear. Some people have MD but their IQ is between 70~85, so they can't receive support and they are caught in severe circumstances.

Generally speaking, it's difficult for them to find employment whether they have mild MD or serious MD. In many cases, they work at institutions set up by their custodian or by volunteers.

A person with MD will either get a job at or enter a nursing institution after they graduate from a school for the physically handicapped. They don't have to work, but they are proud to work and they work hard. However, sometimes they can't control their emotions and it causes trouble. In these cases, friends or ordinary staff personnel act as a go between and help solve any problems. Itﾕs quite different from regular employment.

Most people can live without their parent's support and earn enough to live. However, if they work at an institution, their parents must pay the cost of living, and they earn between 2,000 to 3,000 yen a month. Some earn 500 yen a month or nothing depending on the workplace, and whether they work hard or not, they are still paid the same. However, they can't live on this money and can barely buy household goods. The cost of living includes more than only necessities. They can't buy clothes, eat out, or go out on what they earn in a month. If they have no support from their parents, what can they do?

Those who work at institutions do so according to their individual abilities, and the work helps with their physical rehabilitation. At the institution I visited, they make bread and cookies, cans, sausage, and have a workshop where they make dolls, and so on. Their products are sold in supermarkets, souvenir shops and at local festivals. Their products are amazing and seem to be made by machines, and the food is more delicious than food made by many famous companies. Sales are used as upkeep and their pay is given to them as "pocket money." However, they live for their work. Some people think this amount is enough, but other people think it isn't. This amount of money would not be acceptable to most people if they knew how much it was.

On the other hand, people with MD who work for regular companies earn 50,000 yen a month. They also get raises. It is remarkable how much higher the pay is compared to those who work in institutions. Nevertheless, it's still very low and it can't compare with ordinary worker's pay. What's more, there are many problems, with the most serious being how the handicapped are treated by people in general and by society as a whole.

In our society, people still discriminate against the handicapped. Therefore, they are often mistreated. Why do they suffer discrimination or cruelty even though they have the ability to work? The problem is in the hearts of people who discriminate, and this may never change. Some people are prepossessed with prejudice, and they can't understand handicapped people's minds. If those people could reach out and touch the handicapped's tender and generous heart, their cold hearts will be changed.

Companies that employ handicapped people should accept them with kindness. It's not a privilege to be treated equally. People with MD are obedient and they have kind hearts; more so than ordinary people do. They have a kindness which we tend to forget in our busy and modern society. If you have a chance you should get to know them. We must respect people with MD and accept them as equals and we must all live together by helping each other.