As a teacher, I spent countless hours adjusting lesson plans and activities or modifying the content of my lessons to make literature accessible to every student in my classroom. As an administrator, I've worked with teachers and students to continue that work. However, it is not only the educational world who is making changes to reach everyone.
In the most recent issue of Game Informer Magazine (#254), Kyle Hilliard's story "Creating Controllers For All Disabilities" briefly follows the life of Lee Knight and his experiences with spinal muscular atrophy. When Knight reached 11 years old, he began to experience the debilitating effects of spinal muscular atrophy and was wheelchair bound by age 12. What Hilliard highlights in this story, however, is that Knight was an avid video game player and with the help of organizations like Special Effect, a charity organization that makes video games accessible to disabled gamers, Knight is able to continue to enjoy playing video games.
With a small team, Special Effect modifies controllers according to a person's disability to allow them the ability to play video games. In Knight's story, Special Effect created a controller the utilized his chin to manipulate the control sticks and placed the buttons of the Xbox 360 game controller underneath his fingers. Additionally, they included a special device that allows Knight to control buttons on the game pad using voice commands.
In the educational world, teachers and administrators work very hard to make curriculum accessible to students with disabilities. While our modifications make look different, they don't differ much from the kinds of changes that Special Effect makes. In the end, we both take on the task of looking at each individual person to make appropriate modifications and we both have a goal of making life for the person with the disability more enjoyable.
Knight, in response to Special Effect's help in creating the modified controller said, 'All my life I've played games and [Special Effect] have bridged the gap between what I can and can't do.' As a school administrator, I certainly hope our students will someday utter those same words as they progress in their own academic careers.
**To read Kyle Hilliard's article "Creating Controllers For All Disabilities" go to your nearest GameStop retailer and politely ask for issue 254.
**To learn more about Special Effect visit http://www.specialeffect.org.uk/.
