Disabled Developers / Players?

[Panuru]

I'm curious about the level of involvement of disabled people in the development of this game. Judging by the way the characters are written, I wouldn't be surprised to find a few on the dev team, or at least people who have disabled family members. If neither is the case, then I really have to tip my hat to you folks for being more sensitive than almost everybody I encounter when taking my (wheelchair-bound) fiancee anywhere. Since she has at least one friend with about any disability you could think of, I have seen an unfortunate range of reactions by "normal" people.

On a related note, are there any other players who had a personal reason for half-dreading opening this game, but found it pleasantly surprising?

[ClckwrkLoyale]

I'm curious about the level of involvement of disabled people in the development of this game. Judging by the way the characters are written, I wouldn't be surprised to find a few on the dev team, or at least people who have disabled family members. If neither is the case, then I really have to tip my hat to you folks for being more sensitive than almost everybody I encounter when taking my (wheelchair-bound) fiancee anywhere. Since she has at least one friend with about any disability you could think of, I have seen an unfortunate range of reactions by "normal" people.

On a related note, are there any other players who had a personal reason for half-dreading opening this game, but found it pleasantly surprising?

One experienced real burns.

[evirus]

i thought the game could either be interesting or terrable, luckily it turned out to be interesting.

my girlfriend whom I've been with for six years has Cerebral Palsy, though its not bad, just a light limp and limited mobility in her legs (i usually help her get dressed)

[ZettoSan]

You know, I used to have a mentor on my FIRST robotics team without any arms, and a set of plastic arms and claws. He lost them due to an electrical accident that destroyed his arms. I was exposed to him at a young age, so I think at first I found it weird, but then he was just a normal man like the other mentors. He really didn't have any qualms about his disability, nor bitterness about it. He was extremely independent, driving his own truck to work and eating foods without problem. Even recently, wen I told him I got accepted to a new college about a month or two ago, he extended his right arm, and I shook his claw without second thought.

While he does not the same type of personality as Rin, I think he dealt with his disability like any of the girls in this game (beyond maybe Hanako, but I haven't played her path yet, so I am not sure). Instead of dwelling on it and acting like a victim, they learn to accept it and make a new life where the disability does not own them.

[Guest]

I have a mild neurological disorder, and like the protagonist I was diagnosed relatively late in life. I try to avoid other people in real life whom I even suspect of having any kind of problem with their brainmeats. However, I don't often meet other people with neurological disorders because I'm not currently getting any kind of treatment for my particular disease.

However, despite not playing Shizune's path, I can already tell Misha has some sort of learning disability, and I'm not being immediately repelled. Also, Hanako is MOE (her issues are more psychological than neurological anyway).

[Aura]

None of the dev team is disabled as far as I know, but one of the oldfags who hangs with us is, and he helped with research phase. We also have a medical professional who has dealt with stuff like amputations in his work and he also did medical research, most notably for Hisao's heart condition.

[TKPsycho]

I actually had a classmate in college who has the same issue as Rin. Just like Rin, she used her feet to handle eating utensils, and even to write. It really is extraordinary how well she managed. Hell, she could put on a backpack without any help. Lifting a loaded backpack over her head with her foot, and lowering it onto her shoulders. She needed help with some things - for instance, she needed somebody to carry her food tray in the cafeteria, and some help dressing sometimes from what I was told, but for the most part she was autonomous.

[BustRobot]

While I don't have any kind of disability myself, I have known one or two people who are clearly disabled. Many simply had learning or speaking disorders, so they could generally operate in normal society but just had a little trouble at school.

However, the one person who comes to mind for me is one of my Lecturers for History last year. While I'm not entirely clearly on what the condition is called medically, I suppose you could basically call it Dwarfism (which is likely what it is, in some form or another). He's short, gets around in a wheelchair for the most part, has oddly shaped fingers and when he does get out of his chair in order to walk, he has to use a walking stick, and he seems rather week despite this. When I first saw him turn up to the first lecture of that module, I was surprised and perhaps even a little uncomfortable with him giving a lecture, since I hadn't even seen or heard of that person in my first year of University, this being the start of the second year. A couple of days later though, we had a seminar so I got to know him a little better, and as the year went on I found him to be a very likeable person, enjoyable to talk to about History, problems with my work or anything else, and it came to the point where I thought nothing of what he looked like at all.

In fact, this is the first visual novel I've ever downloaded, simply because of the concept of a school for disabled people was a pretty original concept to me; and I'm very surprised at how much I've enjoyed it. So yeah, like many people I was pleasently surprised at how sensitively and tastefully the issues of the people at Yamaku High are handled. I'd tip my hat to the developers, if I ever wore a hat. So I'll just go with a pleased smile and thumbs up!

[ChaosEngine]

My mother has been working as an LNA (Licensed Nursing Assistant) at a rehab centre in a nearby town. From a very early age, I was exposed to a wide range of people who had acquired disabilities, particularly in brain injury. Though this early exposition, I suppose I've become a great deal more tolerant than other "normal" people who look at someone who has a disability (be it mental or physical) and consider them inferior in some way, shape, or form. To be honest, when I first heard of Katawa Shoujo (way back when), I was a bit apprehensive, as I wasn't sure how the devs would handle the issue of disabled characters. After the Act I release, I can say that all my worries where completely unfounded, as the game has been both tasteful and incredibly enjoyable.

[Panuru]

It's been great hearing about other people who had the same reaction to this game as I did.

Honestly, my fiancee was the first disabled person I spent any significant time around, so I intentionally took her on a first date where we would be sitting the whole time and I wouldn't even notice. She knew I was the inquisitive type, so on the second date she told me to ask all the silly questions I wanted. It was very interesting and gave me the first glimpse that I was dealing with somebody who was exceptionally understanding. In time I came to realize that, especially because she was born with her condition, it wasn't fundamentally any different for her than my nearsightedness was for me. Now I'm at the point where I can nonchalantly feed one of her quadriplegic friends if they come over to visit. It's all been a very enriching experience.

Of course it's also been eye-opening in the sense that their humor toward each other is really brutal. Almost as brutal as the sports they play. Murderball, anyone?

[PCJedi]

Well it's not as bad a disability as the girls in KS face, I do have a number of disabilities that I always had trouble coming to terms with in the past. For one thing, I've always been a bit autistic, having Asperger's Syndrome, so I understand the difficulties that people like those at Yamaku Academy have probably faced with reaching an understanding with "ordinary" people at times (but then, is there actually such thing as a truly "ordinary" person? Aren't our inherent differences part of what makes us human?). It's not something I'm proud of, but I guess I always used to look down on people with disabilities, probably because I was in denial of my own problems. But it's something I'm beginning to come to terms with now, and having personal experiences with these matters makes KS that much more meaningful to me. It seems that the more I play the game, the more it helps me come to term with my own issues.

[Dootsy]

I have PDD, meaning I am approaching the Asperger's/Autism spectrum but don't quite meet the full criteria of having Asperger's.

[ArtfulChaos]

I don't have any real disability, just a bit of trouble with paranoia and social anxiety (not to the point of complexes or disorders.)

As for people I know, One of my classmates in Publications is confined to a wheel chair due to a bone condition, my best friend has tachycardia, and my significant other was born with low muscle tone.

[Ozymil]

I wouldn't call it a disability, as some have said when talking about Hanako, but it was rather hard to deal with for a good part of my life. When I was about fourteen, my house caught fire and, in trying to make my way out, my long-sleeve shirt caught fire and the right side of my body from the neck to about the belly button was badly burnt. Needless to say, I spent some time in the hospital recuperating, but I can't say that my right half looked all that well in the end. For the next few years, I refused to wear anything other than jackets or garments that covered my scars... however, getting into my young adult years, I've grown... I can't exactly describe it as comfortable, but I've learned to cope with my appearance. Heh... at least I can still gross out my brother.

The whole "scarred" thing really is what interested me in Hanako so much when I first saw her.

[erisi236]

I myself was born with a messed up left leg (pretty much none of it was there) which was later chopped off at the hip when I around 3, so I've lived as such for quite awhile. It certainly has made life an interesting and wonderful adventure to be sure, heh.

Anyway, I played the demo and absolutely loved it, the tale of Hisao as he eventually starts to wonder about what exactly a "normal" life is, it's really interesting thing to me. I now wonder about the stories of the girls themselves and how they came to this school, and especially their life experiences with things like daily chores and relationships with others, in my life I've found both of those things to be irritating.