2024-12-26
9 分钟What's up, indicator listeners?
We're taking this week to highlight some of our favorite episodes from the past year.
And today's episode is about how advocates have been pushing the video game industry to be more accessible to folks with disabilities.
Hope you enjoy NPR it was around the age of 12 when Steve Spahn discovered video games.
He was at home, which is where he was most of the time, because he has spinal muscular atrophy.
It's a condition that gradually takes away a person's ability to use their muscles.
And one time one of the nurses helping him asked, have you ever tried playing video games?
And I told her that I was too disabled, there's no way that I could.
And she challenged me that the there was no reason I couldn't just hold the controller.
I was using a powered wheelchair, so why couldn't I hold the controller?
And she brought over a Nintendo and it was like love at first sight.
I literally kidnapped it and wouldn't let her take it back.
And yeah, it was really great.
I ended up falling in love and beating Mario.
As Steve's condition progressed over the years and moving became more difficult, he's had to find more creative ways to keep playing, like using a dentist pick to push keys on a keyboard or wearing a special hat with sensors that allows him to control a game by tilting his head.
And he's had to do all this because for a long time, the video game industry just was not thinking about gamers like Steve or gamers with disabilities generally.
But that is starting to change.
This is the indicator for Planet Money.
I'm Adrienne Ma.
And I'm Waylon Wong.