Pediatrician
Shinichiro Kumagaya suffered a lack of oxygen during birth that left him with cerebral
palsy.
Now, he tends to outpatients as a doctor,
while as an adjunct lecturer he engages in disability research at the
University of Tokyo's Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology.
Kumagaya talks about his career path.
The
Yomiuri Shimbun: As a child, how did you feel about your disability?
Kumagaya: I naturally felt this is who I am,
so I never found it hard to live like this. In my everyday life, my mother used
to do everything for me. But she was very strict when it came to my daily
physical therapy, and I found that stressful.
Q:
What were your school days like in Yamaguchi Prefecture?
A: I liked school because I didn't have to
undergo rehab there. I went to primary and middle schools near my house, so
every day my mother drove me to and from school. She also used to come to
school at every break to ask me if I needed to go to the restroom.
Q:
As a child, how did you see your future?
A: I had this constant fear, thinking about
how I'd live without my parents. So I was always thinking about what I could
do. I liked math, so I began thinking about becoming a mathematician when I was
in high school.
Q:
So you left your family home to attend college at the University of Tokyo?
A: Initially, my mother was going to come with
me. But then I thought if she did, she would never have let me go for good.
Using some passages from the will author Ryunosuke Akutagawa wrote for his
child, I convinced her [not to come with me]. The will basically said something
like: "Even if your mother opposes you, you should never bend your
resolve. Later it will be good for your mother, too."
Q:
Were you able to live on your own so suddenly?
A: In the beginning, I couldn't sit on the
toilet in my apartment on my own, and once I soiled myself. That day, I called
my friends for help. But the most private part of my life was revealed to the
public, and as a result, that made me think, "Yes, things will be all
right." Now, I can ask passersby for assistance to get me to the toilet.
Q:
What made you become a doctor?
A: I joined a group of people helping those
with cerebral palsy. Having met so many people, my interests in people and
society expanded.
Having dealt with the hearing-impaired, I came
to realize the existence of invisible disabilities. Simply to learn more about
it, I went to medical school. But in the course of my training, I met
pediatricians whom I respected and decided to become a doctor myself.
Q:
Wasn't it difficult for you to practice as a doctor?
A: As I can't move like able-bodied people do,
I altered a stethoscope and other instruments, including the one for examining
the inside of patients' mouths, specially for myself. Sometimes, child outpatients
and their parents are surprised to see me in an electric wheelchair. But if I
talk to them for a minute, I can build trust with them.
Having said that though, I'm still asking
myself whether it's OK for a disabled person like me to practice as a doctor.
Q:
Could you tell us about your research activities?
A: I became an adjunct lecturer two years ago.
Now except for three days a week when I work in a private clinic, I engage in
my studies. Among the invisible disabilities I'm interested in, I've been
working on my research based on interviews with autistic people.
The cornerstone of my study is the idea of
independence for the disabled. Society shouldn't exclude disabled people,
blaming them for their disability. I'd like to point out the problems are with
society [not with the disabled].
I'd love to continue my studies from this
viewpoint, and hope to give something back to the medical world.
By Masaru Fujita
The Yomiuri Shimbun/Asia News Network
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