Experiences of people with disabilities cannot be simply examined from positive aspects or negative ones; both aspects are required. This study examines the ambivalent meanings of acquired disability through a qualitative analysis of the life stories of Japanese men with spinal cord injuries. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 men who had sustained the injury over 10 years ago, at around the age of 20. The participants valued job and welfare or social activities, by managing their impairments. They regarded their personal disability issues as social ones and actively promoted social awareness. However, some of them recounted ambivalent experiences; they maintained the vision that they would become able-bodied people again, or were reluctant to participate in social activities, because they felt inferior to more socially active peers. Examination of ambivalent meanings of acquired disability is necessary for an understanding of the actual situation of people with disabilities.

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Japanese studies examining psychosocial issues in people with acquired mobility-related disabilities have been developed under the influence of rehabilitation psychology theories, such as the theory of value change and stage theory, established in the United States. In Japan, the combination of disability acceptance and stage theory is distinctive, focusing on the occurrence of depression. These psychosocial studies have been criticized, because they have placed excessive emphasis on individual factors and have underestimated sociocultural factors from a long-term perspective. Therefore, researchers have begun to examine the meanings of disabilities via qualitative analysis, as they have not assumed psychological goals, such as acceptance or adjustment. These studies have revealed that people with disabilities tend to revise the meanings of disabilities, as they lead their lives in diverse contexts with respect to coping. Stories that have involved "subjunctivizing" reality have deepened participants' understanding of their lives and have allowed for the identification of new meanings for disabilities. These studies also value identity development in people with disabilities via relationships with those with diverse disabilities. Further studies examining the association between these results and disability welfare from a lifespan perspective are required.

This study describes a series of regularly scheduled residents' meetings (RMs) on local disability policy during a 15-year period. The study employed an action research analytical method using data gathered in Yao city in western Japan. From 2002 to 2007, I participated in the meetings as an advisor-overseeing two focus groups, each with six key informants who actively managed the meetings. According to the results, the meetings occurred in three phases: the officials' initiatives (2002-2003), collaborations between city officials and leading residents (2004-2006), and the final fiscal year (2007). Initially, city officials or I led the meetings; later, however, certain residents accepted leadership roles to manage the meetings. Subsequently, the focus group interviewees successfully managed projects. Although these projects were not the ultimate goals of the RMs, they enabled residents to redefine disability issues in the community.

This is the third in a series on residents' meetings (RMs) for municipal disability policymaking in Japan; members included people with disabilities (PWDs). I focused on members' meaning-making process for three community organizational goals: task, process, and relationship. Action research was employed in all three studies during my participation in RMs, which began in 2002. The present study is a follow-up on the meetings' development and covers 2013 to 2019. Meetings were divided into three phases: (a) use of the annual symposium to inform a broader audience about disability policies; (b) appreciation that PWDs can play active roles as supporters of others, especially other PWDs; and (c) recognition that contradiction and dilemma are present in attempts to provide "universal" social equipment for social minorities. The three goals were interrelated through uncertainty and vagueness of RMs; however, it enabled the members to interpret their multifaceted disability-related experiences. PWDs realized their power to help others and developed disability identities through intensive discussions, while they realized the difficulty of social acceptance of their power and the limited solidarity among PWDs.