One day in mid-November, instructors at the Miyagawa medical reformatory, which treats delinquent teenage boys with developmental disorders, in Ise, Mie Prefecture, experienced how people with the disabilities perceive the world by wearing virtual reality goggles and watching a video.

"Oh, it's so bright I'm blinded," said one instructor. "The vision is so narrow. It's scary," said another.

It was the first time for a juvenile reformatory in Japan to conduct this sort of training session, which is aimed at helping workers understand the difficulties faced by people with developmental disorders in their everyday lives.