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Nora Has That Red Tag


Image from: https://roomsbooms.com/what-is-help-mark/



Let's call her Nora. She was a student in my 1-to-1 classes. I remember the first day I met her. She looked composed and calm. Given her professional background, I anticipated a commanding, domineering aura.

Nora is an instructor at a medical university. She was doing a research that required her to read through dissertations, journals, case studies, etc. 

It was in our 5th or 6th meeting I noticed that Nora has that red tag. Curiosity and confusion both came running my mind. However, I was forbidden to ask anything personal so I acted as usual.

Nora must have intended to let me see that red tag on that very day. The documents we were working on are about brain disorders. She gave me a copy of a rough draft of a case study she did. I read thoroughly. 

I handed her back the paper and showed her the things she needed to improve on - grammar, vocabulary, coherence, everything except the content.

"It's my story.", Nora said calmly.

"Oh... I... see.", was all I could utter.

💓💓💓

10 years ago, Nora was found to have a brain tumor that caused a part of her brain to shut off anytime of the day. Such part loses control of her sleeping pattern. This disorder attacks her and causes her to fall asleep anytime and anywhere. People with such disorder have a hard time living a normal life. Nora was one of them.

One incident that made Nora decide to see a specialist was when she was standing at a train station platform. Nora suddenly felt her eyes were closing and her leg muscles were slowly getting weak. She felt she was losing balance and was about to fall on the ground. Yet, she couldn't control them. Minutes later Nora woke up surrounded by some train staff. She really thought she fell on the train tracks. That maybe she was going to die or she has lost parts of her body. 

Nora underwent a surgery and is continually taking some medication. She has had less attacks and is living quite normally since then. Also, she decided to get herself that red tag or as what they call, the help mark. She must admit that she felt embarrassed of herself for having a disability. But with that tag, she felt safer.

The help mark was introduced in Japan not long ago - in 2017. This is to help raise awareness and build a community that offers assistance to people with invisible disabilities. 

💓💓💓

Nora is one of the students I will never forget. Her story would always remind me of how our hearts are full of prejudices, biases or undesirable impressions. That we still need to see tags or signs to be kinder. This world is nowhere near perfect but with kindness and compassion for others, we can still make it a better place.



To know more about "help mark" visit this page:

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/217/

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