Training was held at the Ichikawa Urayasu District Probation Officers Association!

The training was held at the Ichikawa Urayasu District Probation Officers Association on Wednesday, February 26, 2025!

What is neurodiversity?

Neurodiversity is a concept that stems from the diversity of our brains and nerves, and this applies to all of us. Because of these individual characteristics, we may feel “hard to live with”.
We aim to build a society in which individuals’ brain functions and bodies are complemented and extended by technology, and the physical space, social systems, and customs of the environment are redesigned to eliminate the difficulties of living and allow each individual to demonstrate his or her own “power” in his or her own way. As part of these activities, we hold exhibitions and training programs.

Learning Diversity Training

This time, as the second training for the educational field, training was held at the Ichikawa Urayasu District Probation Officers’ Association.
In order to create an instructional environment that is inclusive of diversity, participants first learned about neurodiversity and experienced the “ASD Perception Experience Simulator. In addition, the participants made ideas for actions to be taken in response to the “Troubleshooting Card,” which describes problems that may occur in educational and instructional settings due to the diversity of the brain and nervous system.

What is a probation officer?

Probation officers are private volunteers who support people in the community who have committed crimes or delinquencies to get back on their feet. They are considered part-time national public servants commissioned by the Minister of Justice based on protective justice. Taking advantage of their flexibility and regional characteristics as civilians, they adjust the environment and provide counseling to help offenders smoothly lead a social life when they are rehabilitated from penal institutions or juvenile training schools.

Reference: Ministry of Justice HP https://www.moj.go.jp/hogo1/kouseihogoshinkou/hogo_hogo04-02.html

Neurodiversity Training Overview

Neurodiversity training consists of “Knowing,” “Experiencing,” and “Creating. Through these three curricula, we encourage participants to understand each other’s different viewpoints and respect diverse ways of perceiving the world, leading to the realization of a neuro-diverse society.

1) Know: Toward the realization of a neurodiversity society (Lecturer: Nanako Ishido)

As an introduction to the training, a lecture was given first.
The iceberg model was used to explain that there are many backgrounds to the subject’s problems. For example, a single problem of “not being able to sleep” can be attributed to the individual subject, such as sensory sensitivity due to bedding material or differences in developmental level, or it can be attributed to the surrounding environment, such as atmospheric pressure or light. Moreover, these are just a few examples, and there may be other backgrounds that are not yet understood, or a combination of these backgrounds that may manifest as a problem.

And, as one of the many backgrounds, this training provided an overview of neurodiversity, learning about the history and various examples of a society that respects neurodiversity.

(2) Experience: ASD Perception Experience Simulator (Instructor: Neurodiversity Project Secretariat)

The participants experienced the “ASD Perceptual Experience Simulator” developed by Dr. Shie Nagai (Specially Appointed Professor, International Research Organization for Neurointelligence, The University of Tokyo) and Dr. Shinichiro Kumagai (Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo). By experiencing how the world looks like in an environment with different brightness and sound intensity, participants experienced the symptoms of visual hypersensitivity and blurred vision that ASD sufferers feel as if they were themselves.

Participants commented that “the way I see is different than I imagined,” “I feel restless,” and “I feel my eyes, brain, and feelings will get tired if this world continues.

(3) Create: Idea-thon (Instructor: Neurodiversity Project Secretariat)

An idea-thon was held to consider concrete actions that can be taken toward the creation of a neuro-diverse society. From the “Cards for Problems,” this time, participants considered not only school-related problems, but also cases related to their daily lives.

Each group was asked to think about “what kind of society we should build” and “what kind of classrooms we should create” based on specific problems. The groups were asked to think of considerations and solutions to the problems and shared their ideas with the whole group.

Here, a wide variety of ideas were presented, such as improving the surrounding environment, actions to promote a change in the awareness of the target group, and other ideas that only those of you who have been active as protection officers could come up with.

Participants commented that it is necessary to understand the characteristics of each individual, that their own thinking was too prehistoric, and that they felt the importance of being close to the participants.

For those interested

The B Lab Neurodiversity Project promotes understanding of neurodiversity and works to build a society in which each individual can demonstrate their individuality and “power” in their own place. As part of these activities, we will continue to plan training programs while enhancing the contents.

We are also open to consultation regarding the introduction of neurodiversity training into training and other programs at companies and educational institutions. We are also considering online training as well as face-to-face training, so please feel free to contact us for more information.

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