Do you have any disabled friends?

[cassinova]

I don't remember any of my friends having any physical disability, probably because I don't see them through their physical appearance, but rather their personality. Perhaps I noticed that there was something wrong with their physical appearance when I first met them, but I quickly shook it off.

What I clearly see though is that many of my friends, and myself, have a mental disability. I have friends who can't trust others, I have friends who are depressed and want to commit suicide, others who are paranoid (similar to Kenji I suppose), others who have a fear in something (i.e. obtaining a job), etc. . I feel like I am Hisao as I love to help others who suffer from mental disabilities, but of course in comparison to KS, it's much harder to deal with some people in real life not only because the choices KS offers you to progress through the story doesn't happen in real life (you have to make you own choice), you have less time to think about the choice you have to make at 'that moment'.

This game is worth the time to play, and I've learned a lot from it. Thank you.

[Helbereth]

I don't know anyone with any of the main 5 disabilities, if that's that you mean.

Hmm... actually, I think there was a partially deaf girl in my High School class, but she wore a hearing aid and could speak--though not well.

Beyond that, I've never known a blind person, and nobody I know is missing limbs or has disfiguring scars all over their body.

The people I've known personally--I don't really count acquaintances--who have some kind of disability have usually been something mental. My aunt is mentally retarded(her words), for instance, and basically has the mind of a 12-year-old girl. One of my brothers is diagnosed schizophrenic and takes lithium to balance his brain chemistry.

Those are probably the closest 'disabled' people in my life. I have met people who were missing limbs, lost their hearing, or suffered strokes and were confined to wheel-chairs, but not on a personal level--unless you count my grandmother who died when I was quite young.

[ArazelEternal]

A good friend 10 years of mine has cerebral paulsey. His isnt as bad as most. He can still walk, but has to have the aid of a cane to get around.

[emmjay]

A few of the people I play TTRPGs with have some level of disability. Three of them walk with canes, one of whom also has diabetes, which I believe his need of a cane is related to in some way. (The other two are simply not as young as they used to be.) Another has cystic fibrosis. (He's also a furry, but whether that's a disability or not depends on which part of Internet you ask. )

[TaraKnight]

One of my best friends' was born blind. She uses a cane and, while she has teachers that help her out, she's been learning to get around school on her own. I know a few people who walk around eggshells when it comes to her disability, but it just annoys her. She's a smart, talented, and rather snarky girl, so I don't feel the need to treat her any differently than I should treat a best friend.

[Steinherz]

The more I think on it the closest of my friends who was "disabled" (and I use that term lightly) was my friend Derek in High School. He had a bad back, and blew out his knee about 3 or 4 times in the 4 years I knew him. I think he said at one point he had more surgery done on his knee than most people have had done in their life.
He also had the most irritating personality you'd ever see: He knew how to make you utterly pissed at him, then have you cracking up with him five minutes later.
However his drug habit was slightly annoying for his friends (nothing too hardcore, he was a major pothead though. And often reeked of the stuff)

[Tsubame]

I dont have disabled friends.. But i dont mind having one. Or being close to one. Though as a nurse, i frequently deal with disabled ppl in the hospital. KS has deepened my understanding about having relationships with disabled ppl. Its like not matter how disabled someone is, as long as you love that person then there's no boundaries to it. =D

[Jango]

Back at my old job, I worked for my university's Special Needs programs, and one of my jobs was escorting people to their classes. My first client was a young woman who I'll refer to as Jo.

Jo was blind and she was pretty much the first and last person I'd see in the day. I'd walk her to her first class in the morning, then pick her up from her last class in the afternoon (other people took care of escorting her for all the in-betweens). And if I had time and our library didn't have a braille copy, I'd read her books to her. I remember at first I didn't know how to handle it, but we started getting more comfortable around each other.

She would tell me about anime she was getting into (I asked how she did it, it was usually done with someone narrating to her, although she could also intuitively figure things out), and she'd tell me a lot about her family, and what she wanted to do in life. We'd have little in-jokes, and sometimes I'd just pass by without saying anything and she'd greet me as if she knew. When I asked her about that, she said that I have very distinctive footsteps. As a joke, I'd sometimes change my walking pattern and she'd be like, "Come on, dude, I know it's you."

After she stopped being my client, we exchanged e-mails and met up every now and then. We kinda slowed down and eventually stopped when she got a boyfriend, but I had a lot of fun with her, so my memories of her are still strong.

After her I helped a few other students, each with varying disabilities, but Jo was my favorite. So in a way, Katawa Shoujo reminds me of that period of my life, and how my clients ended up helping me more than I helped them.

[Tsubame]

Back at my old job, I worked for my university's Special Needs programs, and one of my jobs was escorting people to their classes. My first client was a young woman who I'll refer to as Jo.

Jo was blind and she was pretty much the first and last person I'd see in the day. I'd walk her to her first class in the morning, then pick her up from her last class in the afternoon (other people took care of escorting her for all the in-betweens). And if I had time and our library didn't have a braille copy, I'd read her books to her. I remember at first I didn't know how to handle it, but we started getting more comfortable around each other.

She would tell me about anime she was getting into (I asked how she did it, it was usually done with someone narrating to her, although she could also intuitively figure things out), and she'd tell me a lot about her family, and what she wanted to do in life. We'd have little in-jokes, and sometimes I'd just pass by without saying anything and she'd greet me as if she knew. When I asked her about that, she said that I have very distinctive footsteps. As a joke, I'd sometimes change my walking pattern and she'd be like, "Come on, dude, I know it's you."

After she stopped being my client, we exchanged e-mails and met up every now and then. We kinda slowed down and eventually stopped when she got a boyfriend, but I had a lot of fun with her, so my memories of her are still strong.

After her I helped a few other students, each with varying disabilities, but Jo was my favorite. So in a way, Katawa Shoujo reminds me of that period of my life, and how my clients ended up helping me more than I helped them.

awwww.. </3 you didnt take any actions like dating her? O_o im just curious..

[Jango]

Nah, it never crossed our minds. I think we were probably just too comfortable being friends or whatever.

[Tsubame]

mmic.. hahaha~ actually i was thinking about your situation til this moment.. like if i was in your situation, would i do the same or get into the next lvl? Hahaha~ stuff like those.. Its fun to think of such possibilities..

[Umbra]

My neighbour's brother (well, he's my neighbour too) has some pretty bad palsy (we live in a block of flats btw.)

It's a sad story really. He's 14 I think, but looks 10 or so. He is pale as a sheet of paper (because he doesn't go out much, because, for one, he doesn't have any friends and two, he can't run or play sports or anything), has a crooked right leg, and a disproportionately large head. On top of that he has terrible eyesight.

He's a complete social recluse. His only friend is his dad, because his brother is the polar opposite of himself - a cheerful, lively, outgoing and active bloke. I bet he's going through hell in school - especially at this age. Teenage kids can be worse than anything, especially for a person like him.

However, he is an extremely kind and sensitive person. Has that flicker of brightness in his eyes.

It's just too depressing to even think about him. Our world is cruel, punishing such a beautiful person.

[BlackWaltzTheThird]

His only friend is his dad,

Time to bust out those friend-making skills, Umbra, cause you're going to make friends with this kid instead of making yourself depressed thinking about his lack thereof. Let us know how it goes!

[Jango]

mmic.. hahaha~ actually i was thinking about your situation til this moment.. like if i was in your situation, would i do the same or get into the next lvl? Hahaha~ stuff like those.. Its fun to think of such possibilities..

Well to be fair, you have to create a professional distance when you're working, so that probably played a part in the whole thing. Otherwise I guess asking her out wouldn't have been that weird.

[Tsubame]

mmic.. hahaha~ actually i was thinking about your situation til this moment.. like if i was in your situation, would i do the same or get into the next lvl? Hahaha~ stuff like those.. Its fun to think of such possibilities..

Well to be fair, you have to create a professional distance when you're working, so that probably played a part in the whole thing. Otherwise I guess asking her out wouldn't have been that weird.

yeah.. same as nurse-patient relationships that we always adhere to..