[games_access] Ken Yankelevitz - 30 Years celebration

[Barrie Ellis]

Great to see Ken getting some internet coverage for his 30 years service to 
accessible gaming. I've blogged a bit too, and copied below an interview 
from a 1984 Peter A McWilliams book, "Personal Computers and the Disabled":

http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/2011/06/ken-yankelevitz-30-years-of-enabling.html


Ken Yankelevitz is a flight simulation engineer for McDonnell Douglas. In 
his spare time he makes joysticks for the disabled. But aren't joysticks for 
playing games? Do disabled people want to use computers to play games? As 
Ken explains, "Disabled people are just like everybody else - especially 
kids."

And kids seem to be Ken's speciality. Although disabled adults appreciate 
the opportunity to play Pac Man or chess or Decathlon, Ken seems to take 
special delight in helping disabled children control the hopping Qbert, or 
walking with Big Bird down Sesame Street.

Ken works regularly with the younger members of the Rancho Las Amigos 
rehabilitation center in Downey, California. "Some of them use the same type 
device as the game controller to operate their wheelchairs," Ken explains. 
"Playing games teaches them accuracy and coordination, which they can use in 
steering the chairs. It can also be good exercise." So, there are practical 
benefits to game playing. "Sure," say Ken, "but mostly it's just fun." It's 
also fun to watch disabled youngsters trounce able-bodied friends at video 
games.

Ken's controllers are designed for use with movements of either the hand, 
head, mouth, foot or tongue. They attache to Atari, Sears, and ColecoVision 
video games, and to Atari 400/800 and Commodore VIC-20 computers.

Trying to get game controller devices for his quadriplegic friends proved 
impossible, so Ken invented some. He demonstrated them to Atari. They were 
not interested in marketing them, but anytime a disabled person called Atari 
looking for a special joystick, Atari gave them Ken's name.

He formed KY (Ken Yankelevitz) Enterprises in Long Beach, California. Yet to 
show a profit (Ken's special controllers are generally less expensive than 
regular mass-produced joysticks), Ken refers to the entire activity as, "An 
expensive hobby." His wife, Diane, takes part in the family hobby, too.

The controllers can, of course, be used for more than playing games. ("More" 
implies that game playing is lowly and other computer activities are not. 
This is not my intent. Recreation, it seems to me, is as valuable as 
creation. Let's say that controllers can be used for purposes other than 
playing games.)

Many educational programs use the joystick as an interactive device - 
selecting letters, numbers, pictures and so on. The controller can be used 
as a cursor movement device. The keyboard can be used - perhaps with a mouth 
stick - to enter information, and the mouth-activated controller for zipping 
about the file while editing.  The controller becomes a sort of mouth mouse.

One of the exciting things about the mouth controllers is how inexpensively 
an education/communication/game system can be assembled for a disabled 
person. Video games or VIC-20 computers cost about $100, and the less 
expensive Atari runs $200 or so. Add one of Ken's controllers ($20 to $65), 
buy a few cartridges, hook it up to any television, and it's set to go. $120 
to $265 may seem like a lot to some budgets - especially considering the 
other financial obligations disabilities bring - but such a configuration 
offers a great deal of fun and learning for a price lower than most people 
think a computer especially adapted for a disabled person might cost.

Were I writing this as a feature piece for a local newscast, I might end it 
with something syrupy like: "Ken Yankelevitz helps simulate flight for 
grown-ups during the day, so that he can stimulate flights of fancy for 
young people at night."

Fortunately for us all, this is not a TV new features. I can close this 
piece by simply saying, Good work, Ken. Film at eleven.