Playing聽video games can help people with disabilities interact in a way that almost nothing else does says Julian Lee, chief executive of Aidis Trust.
The Trust, which is a small Stockport-based charity founded in 1975, uses technology to help and support disabled people.
The company also brings gaming to young people with disabilities through its Everyone Can Game service, which has been running for the last three years.
鈥淲e want to make sure that gaming is accessible, and that just because you鈥檙e disabled doesn鈥檛 mean you can鈥檛 enjoy yourself,鈥� says Lee.
鈥淲e also want to bring back the social element. There are such limited activities that groups of disabled people can do 鈥� it鈥檚 like a Venn diagram with 20 circles and the one area where they intersect is the thing they can all do.鈥�
Despite these challenges the Trust has seen huge benefits to the community groups during it visits, and is hoping to get its own centre in the near future.
鈥淲e went to a Northwich group and the organiser鈥檚 jaw dropped,鈥� he says.
鈥淭hey said 鈥榣ook at Nathan 鈥� it鈥檚 incredible, we鈥檝e never seen him like this鈥�. He was laughing and joking and they said 鈥榠t鈥檚 the first time he鈥檚 joined in 鈥� he usually sits in the corner with his toys鈥�.
鈥淭hat lasts the whole session and if he knows the activity group will be gaming he will be excited and asking his parents questions before and then waxing lyrical after.鈥�
This is often true across the board, says Lee, with cooperative gaming giving children who usually struggle to communicate a way to interact.
鈥淚n that room the disabilities seem invisible,鈥� he says.
The Trust鈥檚 greatest success story is a young man they鈥檝e been helping since 1998 who has severe cerebral palsy.
鈥淲e got him an accessible computer which helped with his education and managed to get him to university 鈥� with such severe cerebral palsy it鈥檚 almost unheard of.
鈥淗owever he couldn鈥檛 talk and that was next barrier as he went from a specialist school to a mainstream environment where no one could understand him.
鈥淗e dropped out and we came in again and showed him the latest communication software, which enabled him to have the confidence to go back.
鈥淗e graduated last year with a psychology degree.鈥�
There is usually technology to suit every person no matter what their needs 鈥� hence the name of the service 鈥楨veryone Can Game鈥� 鈥� and Lee says there are only four examples in his 17 years where he couldn鈥檛 think of any technology that would be of benefit.
鈥淲ith the games, for example, sometimes they鈥檒l be very basic,鈥� he says.
鈥淭hey can go up to Fifa and other AAA titles, right down to things that the average gamer wouldn鈥檛 see as a game, like pressing a single button twice to aim and fire an arrow.鈥�
The Trust will often adapt specialist technology for disabled people, such as the iGaze which is a computer controlled by eye movements, and merge it with existing games.
鈥淲e use the iGaze specialist tech and a game called Dirt 3 specifically because that can be used by controlling four keys,鈥� says Lee.
鈥淪o we map the tech to different areas of the screen then they just look at different areas to break, reverse and go right and left.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why Everyone Can Game is basically a mission to make sure everyone can game together, and we鈥檝e been pushed and challenged but we鈥檙e not been beaten. Long may that continue.鈥�
As technology evolves so will the service that Aidis offers, says Lee.
鈥淚t鈥檚 never-ending because as soon as tech says 鈥榳e鈥檙e not going to produce any new tech鈥� or someone doesn鈥檛 have any new needs, which is unlikely, it鈥檚 only then that we can say we鈥檒l stop helping people.
鈥淭here鈥檚 always new things that we can show them. For example, we鈥檙e using the Amazon Echo now, so it鈥檚 not just bespoke adaptations, it鈥檚 mainstream as well.鈥�
This flexibility is important for a company that has to be constantly thinking about how to adapt what鈥檚 already out there.
鈥淭here are so many disabled people out there 鈥� I think nine to ten per cent of this country is registered disabled 鈥� but companies making games for just disabled people won鈥檛 make money,鈥� says Lee.
鈥淚f we went to a gaming development company that鈥檚 making games for mass market and said make one that鈥檚 disability accessible we鈥檇 basically break their game 鈥� it won鈥檛 work.
鈥淭he range of disabilities is almost infinite so you can鈥檛 make a product that鈥檚 going to apply to everyone 鈥� it鈥檚 a niche market.鈥�