IAmA quadriplegic who games without the use of their hands interested in helping other disabled gamers learn to play effectively.. i broke my neck 5 years ago falling 18ft from a tree landing on a root.

i was not as depressed as i could have been because of all the support i got.. i was lucky. but yes after losing ones body it can get depressing at times.

Dear sir, congrats on being a badass and not bitching out of life. My son has a shortened radius and clubbish right hand. He's naturally right handed and so forced to use his left. He does well enough on consoles, but really shines on the iPad. He's life loving and not afraid to try anything. I hope as he gets older he keeps his confidence and determination to live as it seems you have. I do have a question though. Is there any kind of place he could go to get a custom console controller? Something form fitted just to his specification? He tries his hardest to play MW3 with me but gets discouraged when he gets single digit kills. Any advice?

add me on steam..ventazin

Would you mind inboxing me your summoner name? I would love to play with you sometime! my summoner name is the same as my reddit name.

i pla w pencils

he is broken if used correctly

Hey, I'm an electrical engineering PhD student (in brain-computer interfaces) who worked at an assistive technology clinic for a few years. Adapted gaming became a specialty of mine, so I thought I would share a few links with you. (I'm sure you know some of these already.)

• AbleGamers a community of gamers with disabilities, with forums, game reviews, and a traveling "accessibility arcade" that lets people try various controllers and games at lots of conferences.
• www.oneswitch.org.uk a library of games, tools, and instructions for adapting games and controllers. Mostly aimed at people with more severe disabilities than yours.
• SpecialEffect GameBase another community with forums, reviews, and events.
• AskACapper Chuck Bittner's petition and campaign for button remapping in all games. Also his comedy about being a gamer with disabilities.
• A modified XBox360 controller that I worked with an occupational therapist to design for a guy with muscular dystrophy. The famous Ben Heck did the physical modifications for us.
• My combat wheelchair!

I also helped to start an annual adapted gaming event for kids with disabilities in Colorado called Switch It Up! Most of the adaptations are for people with more severe disabilities than yours, but you might be entertained by the Wii Fit Board wheelchair rig we built.

oh sh*t ... i would love to help any way i can... also dat combat wheelchairl olol

What made you want to learn LeBlanc, a champion who has a lot of button clicks associated with her?

i play le blanc because i was told i wouldnt be able to, i also find the best way to practice is tov play the hardest possible difficulty

How's your dating life? Has your injury affected it in any way?

What do you miss the most from before the injury?

Were there any unexpected perks or little benefits to the injury?

i started dating quickly and have been with my girlfriend for four years. i miss doing flips.. not really perks.. i got better at schoolwork.. more time to focus.. i did learn alot about myself and feelings /emotion.. before i was clueless

You obviously don't have to answer this, but i've wondered how intimacy works. I know some quadriplegic males can become erect, but other than that, I'm clueless.

everything works fine luckily..

so is it that you have feeling just no movement?

i do not feel touch to the skin at all .. but i have gained other /different feelings

How do you think video games have changed your quality of life since the accident?

Is there any equipment that is not currently available that could be produced to help accommodate your gaming needs?

video games ease the stress of a bad day.. they can change your mood entirely.. they helped me through some hard times

[deleted]

wow man no problem.. i made it with my buddy riskx for people like u and i so .. thanks for acknowledgment

Do you know who Askacapper is?

no i do not

Thanks for doing this AMA. Judging by your stream it appears your injury is at the C4-C5 level as you still have a lot of control of your arms.

My brother was in a motorcycle accident in 2005. He at the time was a fairly new/inexperienced rider. On an outing with a group of people he messed up control of the bike and attempted to brake with his front tire. This caused the back tire to flip up and throw him from the bike. This wouldnt have been so devastating if he hadnt been on a circular on-ramp with rail guards. His short flight was abruptly stopped by said guard rail leaving him with a dislocated spine at the c3/c4.

With little to no ability to move his left arm and minimal movement in his right; one product that he uses which helped him dramatically is this: http://www.naturalpoint.com/smartnav/

It ideally is meant for those using a flight simulator but works just as fine for general mouse movement. Move your head and your mouse moves.

interesting.. i am sorry about his accident..that would suck badly... i hope he improves.. but i know how that is

can you explain a bit the rigging on your left arm and how it works? just a strap and a pencil attached to it that someone made for you? or is this something that was made for people without the use of their hands in general that you adapted to online gaming?

the straps were uses for eating or teaching peolple to in the hospital, stick a forkv in them.. i turned them around and made them into gaming pencils xD

I like to consider myself a good climber and I climb trees a lot. You say you were athletic but were you doing something you've never done before or was it a total accident on something you were used to?

it was just me messing around.. the only reason i fell is because the one branch had termites and i.. dunno i guess it was meant to happen, didnt have much say in it

I'm a quad myself and just like OP I was very athletic very agile and confident with stuff but I did. I.e. snowboarding hockey extreme sports and all I can say is it's the ones you don't see coming that hurt the most. watch you step

that is very true.. i snowboarded before quite a bit.. i still have my board..burton twin

Do you smoke marihuana cigarettes?

maybe?

Watching your stream, I can say with confidence you play better than the vast majority of people who play without pencils. Does it make you angry when able-bodied people critique you for having a bad game?

i dont take critic badly i enjoy good advice especially from pro's.. iv had IW dominate coach me

What were you doing 18 ft in the air on a tree? Were you just climbing it for shiggles? How did your friend/family react to your accident?

You said you were athletic before the accident. What sports did you play? Do you play any sports like murderball or sledge hockey? Do you watch any sports or follow any teams?

Do you plan on streaming as a career or do you have any other plans for the future? Why are you running IE? Can you still jerk off or do you have a girlfriend for that?

So here's a bunch of questions to distract you while you're LoLing. Good luck in life.

being an idiot, yes , my family and friends are amazingly supportive i played many sports and skated as well as parkour i dont watch asports anymore..depressing .. not streaming as a career, simply to support standingbackup.net and other disabled players. i have a girlfriend of 4 years ..too lazy to dl firefox.. dont need to jerk off

When you say you don't need to jerk off, does that mean you no longer have sensation there so it does nothing?

my girlfriend.. the sensation is different

my girlfriend is around alot?

From one quad to another, im glad you have realized there is life after injury.

there is always life in the darkest places...

Since I have never seen you play CoD... What set up you run?

i use wasd to move ctrl to aim alt for equip shift for sprint z to jump and right clik to shoot

Am watching your stream. You're clearly a bright, motivated, and intelligent guy. What kind of educational or career plans have you got?

i am a biotechnology major

Have you heard of AskACapper (Chuck) on Youtube? He is a fellow quadriplegic gamer who uses his face to play and post COD gameplay on Youtube from Console. If not then I really recommend you check him out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G--u63Gka_0

The only other question I have is that do you find yourself at a significant disadvantage when competing against other players or are their some postive sides of having a set-up like yours?

i remember now who askacapper is, also i have found no advantage to playing with pencils.. having your hands is like havin g 8 more pencils

Do you feel like being quadriplegic is part of your identity now? are you constantly aware that you are paralyzed or can you go a few hours to a day without thinking about it?

its hard not to think about because everym little thing can be a huge obstacle.. and im in pain often as my abs dont work my spine isnt supported well

I've got cerebral palsy, which limits me to only using my left arm. I've always wanted to get into pc gaming but never could. Any tips?

omg yes they have a specific mouse roight or left handed with 15 or so buttons that u can remap