Kyoto Self-help Group Tour (1) – Kyoto ASD’s Place –

Happy New Year, everyone!

This is Umino.

And it has really been a while!

This will be my first blog update in about a year (sweat).

For about a year, I couldn’t update at all because I haven’t had any particular blog materials (lol).
And it is also because in the latter part of last year, I was annoyed by depression I have and weren’t willing to write ones…

In the latter part of November when my depression began to be cured, I resumed one activity for the first time in about two years.

It’s … “participation in a self-help group”!

Huh? What exactly is a self-help group? (Why the grandfather tone? Lol) I think some of you may be wondering why I am talking like an old man, so here is a brief explanation!

A “self-help group” is a group of people who share the same problems and concerns, and whose purpose is to share experiences and information with their peers.

About two years ago, I frequented a developmental disabilities self-help group.

After that, I had to step away from there for a while due to various reasons, but this time I attended a self-help meeting for the first time in a long while!

The name of the self-help group I have joined for the first time in about two years is “Kyoto ASD’s Place”.

It was not around when I was active before, so it is a relatively new self-help group that was formed within the last two years.

As an ASD, the meeting seems to be for people on the ‘autism spectrum’ of developmental disabilities (by the way, I was diagnosed with autism in 2017).

The venue was “Higashiyama Iki-iki public activity Center in Kyoto City”.

Its nearest stations are Keihan Dentetu “Sanjo” Station or Subway Tozai Line “Sanjo-Keihan” Station.

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It’s about a 10-minute walk from there.

When I opened the door to the room, having been very nervous because it was the first time I had attended a self-help meeting in about two years two men in their 40s were sitting at the front of the room, and they greeted me.

Apparently, these two are the organizers of the meeting.

After sitting by the door of the circularly arranged desks and waiting for a while, some people entered this room.

In the end, there were five participants, with four men including me and one woman.

When the meeting began, there was first an explanation about the meeting, precautions, and the flow of the meeting, after which everyone had time for self-introductions, and then the main topic of the meeting finally began.

At first, I, Umino was nervous, gradually got relaxed with a calm atmosphere while the entire meeting, and finally, I had a very fun interaction as much as feeling the 2 and a half hour-meeting between 13:15 and 15:45 is being instant.

Umino felt once again that self-help groups are a good thing after all.
Kyoto ASD’s Place always make it a motto to have all participants speak, so everyone is given a chance to speak up.

So, I highly recommend it to those who wish to say something or have had experiences having not been able to speak at other meeting!

For details of this meeting, please access to “Kokuchiz” its notice site or official X (To participate, you are required to apply from “Kokuchiz”.

In case you are interested, here is the URL of “Kokuchizu”, so please search it from here if you like!

https://www.kokuchpro.com/

Actually other than this, I have been to several self-help groups that took place during approximately one and a half month, so I am planning to write about those later date.

Please be looking forward to them…

Thank you very much for reading to the end See you next time!

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Author

海野さざなみ(Umino Sazanami)
A "Awamijin" (Shiga Prefecture resident) suddenly appeared on the "Kyoto People's Blog.
He is a man in his 30s with a shaved head and glasses. His hobbies include reading, creative writing (novels), and cooking.