Man creates gamers charity inspired by his disabled students

Mick created SpecialEffect in 2007, after being involved with setting up computer equipment for disabled children so that they could study. However, the teacher noticed that they often had no way to play or relax after school and at weekends.

“I realised how difficult it was for children with severe physical disabilities to be able to play independently. It is something that is so important for their psychological development, physical development, motivation and a way to make friends,” the founder explained.

SpecialEffect helps children and adults. It is composed of a team of occupational therapists and technologists tailor set-ups to individuals’ needs. They modify voice controls to eye gaze trackers, or simply change the springs inside a games controller to make a joystick easier to move.

“It is very customised. There aren’t many people who use the same control method with the same game,” he added.
The institution also workings towards raising awareness of this issue. Special Effect tries to make companies more sensitive about how they might make their games more accessible for disabled gamers. Sometimes it only requires no more than changing a few lines of code. SpecialEffect is also developing its own code — for example, to help disabled gamers play Minecraft, the popular building and survival game — and will make this open-source and available to anyone.

Adapted from: https://on.ft.com/2qPWi3x

More info: https://www.specialeffect.org.uk/
https://youtu.be/uZgV1GPlpE4