Lots of people with disabilities would like to play games, but their disability keeps them from playing or limits how they can play. The AbleGamers Foundation is a charity that helps these gamers play games. Now the foundation has partnered with companies like Electronic Arts and Humble Bundle and healthcare facilities to deliver “Expansion Packs.”
Expansion Packs are “are filled with the best assistive technology and specialized controllers available, along with top notch video games and related swag. They are then delivered and installed in various locations that serve people with serious disabilities, including group homes, special needs daycare facilities and long-term living centers,” according an official release. The first Expansion Pack has been sent to and installed at the Pediatric Specialty Care long-term living facility in Pennsylvania.
“For the better part of a decade, AbleGamers has been giving individuals with disabilities the equipment they need to play video games,” said Steve Spohn, Chief Operations Officer of AbleGamers in an official release. “Our Expansion Packs allow us to give that same equipment to a larger group of people, faster than ever.”
“AbleGamer’s amazing Expansion Packs allow kids who have very limited mobility in the physical world [to] experience what it is like to run, jump and play in a virtual world,” said Kristen Hussar, DPT Head Physical Therapist at Pediatric Specialty Care – Hopewell. “It gives them a good reason to wiggle their fingers and rotate their heads, whereas, before the gaming equipment, they may not have seen the value of the limited movement they can produce. The adaptive switches allow us to take whatever small movements a child is able to generate and augment them into something fun and meaningful to them, showing them that much is possible despite severe physical limitations.”
