From a very young age I remember being interested in video games and playing them. When we were young, me and my siblings would play Sonic the Hedgehog and Alex Kidd on the Sega Master System II, and then Super Mario Kart (my favourite!) on the Super Nintendo. This was back when controllers were much simpler to use and had less buttons to press, and I had a bit more movement in my arms than I do now.
As you're all probably aware of now, I have a disability called Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita (AMC), which means I have stiff joints and weak muscles (read my blog post about it here), and so leaves me with a very limited range of movement in all four of my limbs.
Fast forward about 20 odd years and I hadn't played a console since the Nintendo GameCube was released. By this time I think I'd just accepted that I was unable to play games consoles anymore, and settled for playing point-and-click games on my Mac (not PC, I hate Windows!), like World of Warcraft, which quickly became very boring! However, the one point-and-click game I have always been in love with, and still am, is The Sims. But even with The Sims to keep me entertained, I just still felt that I was missing out on other games.
One day in 2015 (yes this blog post is very overdue!), I came across a post on Facebook about a charity called SpecialEffect who help people with disabilities get into or get back into gaming. After reading the post, I just sort of pushed it aside in my mind for a few months thinking "I've gone this long without playing a console, do I really need to play one now?", and the more I thought about this, the more the answer to this question was leaning more towards "yes". Then one day, a few months after reading about SpecialEffect, I went to visit my older sister and her family. My nephew had his Xbox One set up in the living room and he was playing Assassin's Creed Unity. From that moment on, the answer to my question was a big, fat, massive "YES!", I wanted to play a console, and in particular this game!
The very next day I emailed SpecialEffect asking them for their help to get me gaming again, in particular using an Xbox One as I wanted to be able to play online with my nephew. I quickly received a reply from a lady named Frankie, who works for SpecialEffect, requesting a video of me demonstrating how much movement I have in my hands and arms, which I'm not going to post online as I was wearing a very unflattering 'slanket' (blanket with sleeves) as I was cold and couldn't bare to take it off, and it was for research purposes only to be seen by people at SpecialEffect so kept the slanket on (should've taken it off)! Anyway, after Frankie had seen my video, we arranged a date for her to come out to my house with a colleague and a van full of equipment for me to try.
Finally the day arrived! Frankie and Gillian came with an Xbox One and a lot of fancy equipment for me to have a go at using. We started by trying to find out if I was able to use the left joystick on the Xbox One controller using my left hand, which is my weakest hand, and I was able to do it! I was so excited to be able to control a little footballer on Fifa (this was just what we were testing my hand control on, I'm not actually interested in football games)! Once I'd mastered moving around, a new switch was added next to my right hand, one by one, and I seemed to be able to control it quite well considering I hadn't played a console for a very long time!
After a little while, I was actually playing Assassin's Creed Unity! Maybe not with all the buttons plugged in at this stage, but I was doing it nonetheless! We did eventually go for all the buttons as I wanted to have the full gaming experience though, so we did it and I was able to use all of the buttons! That was when it was time for Frankie and Gillian to leave me to it, and to loan their equipment for 2 months to make sure it was going to work for me.
At first, I had the Xbox controller and buttons attached to my wheelchair using mounting arms and velcro, but I didn't like that once my equipment was put in place that I was then tethered by a lot of wires to the Xbox. I was unable to move away or do anything else if I wanted to.
So I came up with the idea of attaching my equipment to a small height adjustable table, which could then be moved into position with everything already in place, I just had to park my chair next to it. Caudwell Children, where I volunteer, were kind enough to let me borrow their table which I use in the office, to make sure it worked before I bought one of my own (picture below).
As you're all probably aware of now, I have a disability called Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita (AMC), which means I have stiff joints and weak muscles (read my blog post about it here), and so leaves me with a very limited range of movement in all four of my limbs.
Fast forward about 20 odd years and I hadn't played a console since the Nintendo GameCube was released. By this time I think I'd just accepted that I was unable to play games consoles anymore, and settled for playing point-and-click games on my Mac (not PC, I hate Windows!), like World of Warcraft, which quickly became very boring! However, the one point-and-click game I have always been in love with, and still am, is The Sims. But even with The Sims to keep me entertained, I just still felt that I was missing out on other games.
One day in 2015 (yes this blog post is very overdue!), I came across a post on Facebook about a charity called SpecialEffect who help people with disabilities get into or get back into gaming. After reading the post, I just sort of pushed it aside in my mind for a few months thinking "I've gone this long without playing a console, do I really need to play one now?", and the more I thought about this, the more the answer to this question was leaning more towards "yes". Then one day, a few months after reading about SpecialEffect, I went to visit my older sister and her family. My nephew had his Xbox One set up in the living room and he was playing Assassin's Creed Unity. From that moment on, the answer to my question was a big, fat, massive "YES!", I wanted to play a console, and in particular this game!
The very next day I emailed SpecialEffect asking them for their help to get me gaming again, in particular using an Xbox One as I wanted to be able to play online with my nephew. I quickly received a reply from a lady named Frankie, who works for SpecialEffect, requesting a video of me demonstrating how much movement I have in my hands and arms, which I'm not going to post online as I was wearing a very unflattering 'slanket' (blanket with sleeves) as I was cold and couldn't bare to take it off, and it was for research purposes only to be seen by people at SpecialEffect so kept the slanket on (should've taken it off)! Anyway, after Frankie had seen my video, we arranged a date for her to come out to my house with a colleague and a van full of equipment for me to try.
Finally the day arrived! Frankie and Gillian came with an Xbox One and a lot of fancy equipment for me to have a go at using. We started by trying to find out if I was able to use the left joystick on the Xbox One controller using my left hand, which is my weakest hand, and I was able to do it! I was so excited to be able to control a little footballer on Fifa (this was just what we were testing my hand control on, I'm not actually interested in football games)! Once I'd mastered moving around, a new switch was added next to my right hand, one by one, and I seemed to be able to control it quite well considering I hadn't played a console for a very long time!
After a little while, I was actually playing Assassin's Creed Unity! Maybe not with all the buttons plugged in at this stage, but I was doing it nonetheless! We did eventually go for all the buttons as I wanted to have the full gaming experience though, so we did it and I was able to use all of the buttons! That was when it was time for Frankie and Gillian to leave me to it, and to loan their equipment for 2 months to make sure it was going to work for me.
At first, I had the Xbox controller and buttons attached to my wheelchair using mounting arms and velcro, but I didn't like that once my equipment was put in place that I was then tethered by a lot of wires to the Xbox. I was unable to move away or do anything else if I wanted to.
So I came up with the idea of attaching my equipment to a small height adjustable table, which could then be moved into position with everything already in place, I just had to park my chair next to it. Caudwell Children, where I volunteer, were kind enough to let me borrow their table which I use in the office, to make sure it worked before I bought one of my own (picture below).
(Don't mind my concentration face!)
After 2 months of loaning the equipment and making sure it all definitely worked for me, it was time to give it all back to SpecialEffect, but not before Frankie had emailed me with a lot of links as to where I could order my own equipment from. Once I had ordered my own equipment and it had arrived, Frankie came back to my house, this time with a colleague of hers called Gavin, and they set up my own equipment for me and took theirs away with them. I did have the option to post their equipment back to SpecialEffect, but me and my sister (who is also my PA) are not very technical at all!
Once the loan period was over, SpecialEffect were still there to support me with any issues I might encounter, and still are in fact. Not too long after, I discovered that on some games I needed to be able to move both joysticks on the controller at the same time, which was impossible for me to do using only my left hand on the Xbox One controller, so Frankie and Gavin came out to see me again.
This is what they came up with, and again I was able to loan this extra equipment before buying my own. Now I'm able to use the left joystick with my left hand, and the right joystick with my chin! I know it might look a little strange but it works for me!
I have now been gaming independently since then! I have also taken up playing PlayStation 4 since as well, I just have to swap the Xbox One controller for the PS4 controller and plug it all in to the PS4, works just fine! Well, apart from swiping, unfortunately my adaptor blocks that feature, but thankfully not many PS4 games make use of the swipe! Once again, Gavin was there to guide me through the process of attaching my setup to a PS4 (which I checked would be ok before buying one), and also another person from SpecialEffect, named Barrie, was there to discuss my options regarding swiping. I was able to loan another adaptor, which didn't end up working in the end, but at least we tried!
The people at SpecialEffect will do all that they can to help with the entire gaming experience, which is why, apart from Caudwell Children of course, it is my favourite charity!
A MASSIVE (long overdue) Thank You to everyone at SpecialEffect who have supported me in getting back into gaming! You're all awesome!
Before I go, below is a video of me and Mick Donegan (CEO of the charity) thanking people for taking part in SpecialEffect's GameBlast16 event, and also a little bit of me talking about my setup.
The people at SpecialEffect will do all that they can to help with the entire gaming experience, which is why, apart from Caudwell Children of course, it is my favourite charity!
A MASSIVE (long overdue) Thank You to everyone at SpecialEffect who have supported me in getting back into gaming! You're all awesome!
Before I go, below is a video of me and Mick Donegan (CEO of the charity) thanking people for taking part in SpecialEffect's GameBlast16 event, and also a little bit of me talking about my setup.
Well I hope you've enjoyed reading this blog post, and feel free to ask any questions. Until next time!
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