For those of us who are disabled the world can be a daunting place, full of mysteries and dangers.  Some of the dreams we have seem like they may never be fully realized.  Imagine a place where you could realize these dreams, a warm and inviting place where no one will prejudge you based on your appearance.  Imagine a place where you could run, climb mountains, swim oceans, or anything else possible for most people.  Imagine...if you could have a Second Life.

As far as virtual worlds go, Second Life is second to none.  Not a traditional video game, yet playable on the computer, Second Life is aimed at satisfying the emotional needs of its player base.  Many argue that it is not a game at all and as you will see; its player base agrees that Second Life is not a game.

Virtual Ability Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the disabled acclimate into Second Life.  Their mission is to assist new users with getting started, assistive technology instructions, and providing support to those who need it.  But, in order to understand what they do, first we need to understand who they are and why they started the biggest virtual worlds group aimed at assisting people with real life disabilities.

Gentle Heron

Gentle Heron, a.k.a. Alice Krueger, is a mature, well-rounded, visionary and one of the three main founders of Virtual Ability.  Alice has Multiple Sclerosis, a progressive and debilitating disease that strips away the abilities of hundreds of thousands of people every year.  In fact, one of AbleGamers own founders, Stephanie, is also living with this terrible condition.

Krueger or Gentle as she prefers to be called, does not let the disease get her down.  When asked why she pushed to start the organization her answer was "Oh, I'm just a selfish old lady." "I wanted to be a part of a community and in real life I could not," said Gentle. "It's bad enough being a young male (or female) with a disability but being an older female you are invisible at best.  In here, almost all avatars are young and buff. So it takes away the natural real-life stigma of not looking "normal", people relate to me as my personality, since this isn't my appearance."

We could certainly understand her feelings of being invisible.  Anyone who has been disabled for any length of time can identify with her feelings of needing more.

That is not to say that Virtual Ability recommends hiding individual disabilities.  They believe that it is their job to provide options.  If someone wishes to embrace their disability, they may do so and if they wish to be more discreet, that is also a possibility.  In fact, they offer a free "wheelchair" object for those who have grown accustomed to identifying themselves with a wheelchair.

"Some people choose to bring their real life disability status into Second Life - with their avatar's wheelchair, their self-description as Deaf, etc. Others choose to use the virtual world as a place to escape their real life condition, and to be as "normal" as any other avatar. We support both of these approaches," adds Pecos Kidd, vice president of Virtual Ability.

The real-life organization

Gentle is the original founder who started this organization. Today, there are many task groups that are included in the organization but the board of directors is still three people.

• Alice Krueger aka Gentle Heron is the president and chief of operations
• Dave Ludwig aka Pecos Kidd is the vice president
• Linda Binns aka Treasure Ballinger is the estate manager

The group claims to be well over 200 members strong already with thousands of people entering their starting portal every week.  Although, not every person who enters their portal is the target audience, Virtual Ability welcomes anyone who wants to be a supporter of the disabled whether they themselves are disabled or not.

"Virtual Ability is the first organization we know of to form in a virtual world, and then create a real world non-profit corporation to further our work," said Kidd.

Considering the organization has only been around since the beginning of 2007, the founders are quite pleased with their current rate of growth.  In fact, Virtual Ability won the first ever Linden prize award just this year.  The contest involved over 230 applicants whose Second Life efforts yielded Real Life results. The creators of Second Life, Linden Labs, awarded $10,000 in real life money to the grand prize winners.

One thing Gentle would not comment on is where the organization is going.  "We have a two to five year plan," said Gentle.  "We are waiting for certain opportunities to present themselves before furthering our cause."

Even when speaking off the record she would not disclose much more information. Suffice it to say, she has some grand plans for her organization.

In part-two of AbleGamers meets Virtual Ability; we will take you on a guided tour of the two-island facility and more information on how you can join in on the fun for FREE.  Including, an embarrassing moment for AbleGamers own Bearstion involving two women and sex.  Stay Tuned

Reporting for AbleGamers, Steve Spohn, Second Life.

Read Part II here...

Comments (3)

John Bannick

May 15, 2009

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Steve,

What a cool article!

I just went to VAI and checked them out.
They are indeed doing some really neat stuff.

Thanks for the techno-tip and looking forward to your Part 2.

John Bannick
www.7128.com

Steve Spohn

May 15, 2009

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Thanks JB,

We worked very hard on this one! Stay Ttuned

Alicia Bishop

May 18, 2009

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This article is wonderful.

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