In a story reported by Game Informer on Wednesday, June 25, the UK-based charity organization Special Effect has helped a young man–Lee Knight–who has been diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy to play videogames by using only his right hand and facial muscles.
Spinal muscular atrophy is a genetic disease that causes the body’s muscles to weaken over time. During such time, those affected progressively lose movement as nerves that connect the brain to the body’s muscles deteriorate.
According to Game Informer, Knight started to play videogames when he was no longer able to play soccer at around age 11. As Knight’s movement became more and more limited, he was slowly losing the ability to enjoy in his escapism. Thanks to Special Effect, Knight can now still play games such as Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V through to completion.
Approaching each disabled player on a case-by-case basis, Special Effect custom builds videogame controllers that allow for those with specific disabilities to still play games. These controllers are loaned to those in need free of charge.
“ Everyone’s physical abilities are slightly different–some people we see might have finger movement but no strength to grip a controller, ” says Mark Saville, who’s in charge of Special Effect’s general communications. “ Others might have limited abilities to move their thumbs. And others may have no controllable movement of their bodies at all, apart from their eyes. ”
You can read Game Informer’s full article on Special Effect via the source link below. If you’re interested in donating to Special Effect, you can do so t hrough the “Donate” page via its official website .
You can watch Lee Knight’s story with Special Effect via the embedded video below.
[ Game Informer ]