Commonly prescribed medications like Vyvanse and Adderall can be illegal in some countries even if legally obtained elsewhere. In addition to prescriptions, common concerns for students, advisors, and parents include how ADHD might be perceived in Japanese society and universities.
On the other hand, many find Japan accommodating for people with many types of disabilities. English and Japanese speaking clinics provide a high quality of care to manage ADHD, and teachers can be willing to provide reasonable accommodations in classes.
Watch the webinar recording of the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange (NCDE) along with our panel of presenters to learn how people with ADHD can study, volunteer or work in Japan. Transcript is attached at the bottom of this page.
When:
Thursday, August 22 at 4 PM Pacific (Los Angeles) 7 PM Eastern (New York).
Presenters
Justin Harford
Justin is a Program Coordinator at Mobility International with the National Clearinghouse on Disability & Exchange project. He works to increase the participation of people with disabilities in mainstream international exchange by filling the information gaps for professionals and people with disabilities through direct advising, developing a collection of online materials, and organizing workshops. Justin spent the summer of 2008 studying Spanish in Mexico, and the 2010-2011 academic year at the Pontifical Catholic University in Santiago, Chile making progress on his Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin American history.
Alistair Howard
Alistair Howard is Assistant Vice President for International Affairs, heading up study abroad at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. From 2015 to 2018 he was Associate Dean and Chief Academic Officer at Temple’s Japan Campus in Tokyo, where he created a full time Disabilities Resources & Services staff position to support the campus’s 1300 local and international students. He has taught political science for 25 years, doing a PhD in comparative politics at George Washington University and reading Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Hertford College, Oxford. During the early 1990s he was a policy analyst for Tokyo Electric Power in their Washington, DC research office. He devotes his spare time to renovating his 100 year-old house.
Melissa MacDonald
Melissa is a University student in Japan. From August 2014 to January 2015 she studied abroad at a Japanese High School in Hyogo prefecture while living with a host family. After returning to the United States and completing her Associates Degree, she studied abroad at a University in Hyogo Prefecture from March 2018 to July 2018. From September 2018 she transferred to Tokyo International University as a full time student. She has experience receiving treatment for ADHD at an English speaking clinic in Hyogo prefecture as well as at a Japanese speaking clinic in Saitama prefecture.
The National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange is a project of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, designed to increase the participation of people with disabilities in international exchange between the United States and other countries, and is supported in its implementation by Mobility International USA.
