Setup tweak boosts Arlo’s gaming skills

Wednesday, October 2nd, 2019

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Smiling boy in wheelchair holding games joystick, inset shows tray of 16 switches and two joysticks

Our support doesn’t just bring a one-time smile to the people we help. It’s a lifelong service, so when abilities change or games and consoles go in and out of fashion, we’re there to adjust or recreate setups to keep the gaming magic flowing.

That’s why it was such a privilege to give a boost to Arlo’s gaming skills recently. We’ve been helping him for over five years now, tweaking his gaming setups as his needs and abilities change. He has cerebral palsy and can’t use a standard controller, but he’s been able to keep firmly in the game thanks to a series of adapted setups we’ve worked out together.

He was having some technical problems with his setup recently, so our specialist assessment team welcomed him to our games room to see if we could help. Our team started by swapping in an Xbox Adaptive Controller to simplify the number of wires and adapters around his PC and Xbox, then tried out an updated adapter for his Nintendo Switch, which got all his buttons working again.

We identified some replacement joysticks that were better suited for him going forward, and added in more switches – in fact with this setup, Arlo now has equivalent access to every single button on the controller, plus both joysticks. We can’t wait to hear how his gaming gets even better – his friends and family need to watch out!

Above: Arlo trying his improved gaming setup. Inset: His setup in full.