Finley’s finding his footballing touch
Monday, April 24th, 2023
Above: “Clear it!” Finley gets to grips with his new setup with the encouragement of Jacob, one of our specialist assessment team.
Finley’s now banging in the FIFA goals against his brother thanks to an adapted controller setup devised by our specialist assessment team.
Finley’s cerebral palsy mainly affects his right arm, so he prefers to play just using his left hand. It restricts the use of his standard Xbox controller, so his family got in touch to see if our specialist support could help him make the most of his movements and maximise his gaming enjoyment.
Finley and his mum came to our Games Room for a FIFA-filled fun afternoon trying out a range of adapted controller equipment. He preferred to use the left joystick on a standard controller with his left hand, so our team mounted it on a Velcro wedge to make it easier to operate. We then worked with him to identify positions for two button switches that he could operate really well with his right hand and paired the setup with FIFA in its Two-Button mode so he could compete independently.
Our team also showed Finley how he might be able to play complex games like Minecraft with the assistance of a helper using the co-pilot mode on his Xbox. This was most effective when he used an adapted joystick with a handle chosen to match the one on his wheelchair control, with the helper taking charge of the other controls.
Finley loves his setup. It’s given a huge boost to his inclusion and opened up a world of gaming possibilities – including some fantastic sibling rivalry! We’re so glad we could help, and we’ll be there for him if he needs our support in the future.
Below: For co-op play, the team chose the handle of Finley’s adapted gaming joystick to closely match that of his wheelchair controller
