Mizuki: My name is Mizuki Hsu.
I am a wheelchair user since I was seven.
Sometimes strangers see me and say,
"Your life must be hard."
I still remember when I was thirteen-years-old,
a woman saw me walking with brace and two canes
and said, "How pitiful."
In my heart, I shouted:
"Do you know anything about me?"
Living with disability is not convenient.
It can be tough.
But it doesn't mean my whole life is miserable.
(ambulance sirens)
News reporter 1: Shock and horror after Japan's
bloodiest attack in decades.
Officials say suspect, Satoshi Uematsu,
killed nineteen people in their sleep and
wounded dozens more in a stabbing spree on Tuesday.
All of them residents at a center
for the disabled outside Tokyo.
Mizuki: Sagamihara stabbings shook, not only Japan,
but also the world.
Five months before the deadly stabbing rampage,
the suspect wrote a letter to Lower House Speaker
saying, "I believe there is still no answer
about the way of life for individuals
with multiple disabilities.
The disabled can only create misery."
When I read the letter, I couldn't believe my eyes.
According to WHO, children with disabilities
are almost four times more likely
to experience violence than non-disabled children.
Adults with disabilities are 1.5 times more likely
to be a victim of violence than those
without a disability.
News reporter 2: A Louisiana mom has been charged
in the death of her seventeen-month-old
son who had Down syndrome.
News reporter 3: Police say the woman who cared
for their disabled loved one
ended up beating and killing her.
News reporter 4: It is almost a year, May of 2015,
that Bonnie Liltz admitted to killing her
28-year-old severely disabled daughter, Courtney.
Mizuki: Many people will think we are miserable
because people with disabilities themselves
have issues getting around, finding jobs,
or engaging in our communities.
But a lot of problems exist because
this world is not built for us.
The infrastructure is not designed
for wheelchair users, for example.
And some people discriminate against us
when we try to find jobs.
Of course, we want that changed,
but that does not mean we are miserable.
Disability rights are human rights.
People with any kind and any level of disabilities
are human with a right to continue living.
Written and directed by Mizuki Hsu.
Special thanks to Nicole Dittrich,
Kylo Green, and Sheng-Fu Hsu.
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