Susan Stahl, CDR Transition Specialist, is in Japan from December 10 to December 21, traveling with other Independent Living advocates from the Open Doors Transition Center in New York. She is a leader in nursing home transition and diversion, not only for our organization, but also within the state of New York. As she continues her travels in Japan, we are excited at the opportunities she has to share our good work on an international level. We are pleased to share updates on her speaking at an independent living seminar in Osaka, Japan, on December 13, and the start of her experience at the Japanese Council on Independent Living’s conference, in Fukuoka, Japan, beginning on December 16. In her own words:

Day 3 in Osaka

“Today was my presentation. The day started out with some bread for breakfast. And then, we got picked up in the company van and taken to seminar space for the presentations. We had a meeting prior to the presentations to talk about timing etc. because there were two other speakers. One of the speakers was an expert on disability services in Japan and the other speaker was a transition worker that recently transitioned someone out of an institution and that person was present at the meeting. After the seminar, we went to a restaurant and celebrated a successful event.”

Days 7 to 9 in Fukoka

“Today was the first day of the JIL Japanese Independent Living Conference. We are now in Fukuoka Japan. The day started with Traditional Japanese breakfast…We attended the opening of the JIL Conference. We met several ranking members of JIL. I spoke briefly about my trip to Japan. I took part in the discussions about inclusion in educational systems.”

“Today was spent at the Japanese Independent Living Conference. The topics included women’s empowerment, transitioning people with muscular dystrophy to the community, award ceremony and writing on a scroll to empower women.”

And the third day was to wrap up the conference.

We will share a final update on her journey on Monday December 23. ^.