I was explaining to one of my friends the other day about AbleGamers. When I was done he mentioned how passionate I was when talking about our site. I thought everyone might want to hear my explanation why and how I found my way here. Notice I used the term our site. Well that's what this is not just a website but a community. Where everyone can contribute and everyone's opinion matters. People helping each other to reach one common goal.

Let me fill you in a bit on my story. When I was 14 I was injured in a jet ski accident. I ended up breaking my neck which left me not being able to walk with limited arm movement and no use of my hands. After the initial shock of it all I realized there was no point in dwelling on what I couldn't do. Besides my family and friends were upset enough already. So, I moved on trying to think of a way to keep some normality in my life. Now I come from a family where almost all the males have spent way to much playing video games. Even the topic of holiday conversations usually centers around games. So naturally I'd want keep playing video games if not for my love of them then for conversations sake.

The Christmas after my accident I got a Playstation. Using a typing stick I used on my computer and a arcade joystick controller I found a new way to play games. This worked great for a long time and I was able to for the most part play any game I wanted. Even into some of the PS2 age I was still buying 3-6 games a year. At some point something changed games were using the analogue sticks more and more. Now I can understand some games definitely needing them but I started seeing games which didn't even an option to change the control scheme. Even when the directional pad wasn't being used. Games I could count on started to betray me. Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Final Fantasy, and even sports games (which I'm not to fond of anyway) were unplayable.

I went on n online crusade to find a way to play games again. I stumbled on AbleGamers one day. Now I'm going to be blunt as I always am. I didn't think much of it at first, in fact I made one post and didn't return for about a year. When I did return I was amazed at the progress that had been made. After reading through some of the articles and threads in the forum. I realized that not only could AbleGamers help disabled gamers in a warm welcoming way. It had the potential to make a change in the way developers thought of what I call the "disabled demographic" (Since I seems to be a lot about money.). Letting them know we are gamers and we want to play too. I emailed Mark and shared my feelings with him and that's what lead me to where I am now.

AbleGamers in my opinion reflects us as the disabled with the human side many neglect to see or don't care to. With soldiers coming home from Iraq with many different disabilities. It will be hard to ignore the fact that they deserve a chance to enjoy life as everyone else for their sacrifice and that includes gaming. I believe with the support of everyone on AbleGamers and others we can make things better.