Country report of China Taiwan

Institute for the Blind of Taiwan (IBT) was established with the support of the American overseas blind foundation in 1951. It was then formally registered with the government as a foundation of social welfare institution in 1958, leading the promotion of welfare work for the blind and visually impaired in Taiwan.

According to the information from the end of 2009, the blind and visually impaired population in Taiwan is 56,928, 2.7% of them are under the age of eighteen, 44% are at the age between nineteen to sixty-four, and 53.3% of them are over sixty-five.

Thus, IBT focuses on those who are not inborn blinds or visually impaired in rebuilding their lives, offering them guidance and assistance in areas of daily life, employment and spiritual well being. Employment trainings focuses on massage, assisting them to obtain license and employment.

In 1980, the government announced the Disabled Rights Protection Act and listed massage as an exclusive profession for the blind and visually impaired. Under this regulation, only blind and visually impaired can be employed as a massager, offering a two-year job training to cultivate working abilities and to become financially independent. However, in October 2008, the Constitutional Interpretation No. 649 by the Grand Justices declared that the provision stipulating that non visually impaired individuals are not allowed to work in the massage industry violates the constitutional rights to equality and work, and is therefore unconstitutional. This will cause a tremendous impact on about 2,600 blind and visually impaired who are in the massage industry. Street protest has occurred twice, in December 2008 and January 2010. To compete with non visually impaired individuals from November 2011, they request that the government to propose targeted measures to protect and ensure their rights to employment and subsistence. The government tactics including:
 
1. To raise massage skill:
(1) To review an amendment to establish and improve the standard of training. In order to increase the skill level of massaging, the training course must be consistent for at least a year. (In the past, most training courses only lasted for half a year)
(2) Those who had been working in the industry with license will be provided with more than sixty hours of on-job training. Furthermore, the government should provide subsidies to their living cost of NTD10,000 per month. 
(3) To establish blind and visually impaired massage and rehabilitation center, providing accommodation and training on orientation mobility, Braille, computer, and massage skills. (since 2010)

2. To establish the massage business management standard, and provide a 3-year counseling and assistance to the private massage workshop (up to NTD 200,000 each workshop) (2010-2012)

3. To support the development of large-scale massage center, and increase job opportunities in massage. (2011)

4. To establish an internet map of the blind and visually impaired massage network for the customers. (2010)

5. To market and promote blind and visually impaired massage. (2010)

Massage professionals graduated from IBT have always been the main force of massage workers in the market. To compete with non visually impaired individuals, in addition to active participation in providing advices and suggestions to the government, we have to expand in areas of employment counseling and massage skills, set up a competitive center that demonstrates massages so that the blind and visually impaired massage practitioners continue to contribute to society with the respect from the public.