[games_access] Something Special launch

[Ian Hamilton]

Hi all, bit of a plug but hopefully this will be of 
of interest. 

Something Special: Out and About has launched today 
in conjunction with the 100th episode of the TV show. Amongst the activities available there are 4 games produced with universal game design in mind.. they're designed to be fun  and engaging for all preschoolers, but also designed in conjunction with special needs teachers and therapists to support the developmental goals of very young children with profound and multiple special needs, with support for assistive tech for motor disabilities (inc single/dual switch, and for balloon pop, webcam) and fine control over difficultly and cognitive load. 
Every game can be reduced back to a simple single-switch cause and effect activity at one of the scale, and at the other end of the scale they are just a selection of age appropriate games for young children, featuring a loved character.
This loved character aspect is a perfect example of one of the reasons why accessible gaming is so valuable. Assistive tech is obviously incredibly valuable and in many cases life changing, but learning to use can be very difficult and frustrating, especially for children who might not be able to understand the potential benefits. Playing games with the reward of interaction with a loved character gives huge motivation for practicing the skills needed.
Something else that might be of interest is the use of Makaton signs and symbols throughout, which are used as a tool to encourage language development in people with little or no communication due to conditions such as low functioning autism.
http://www.makaton.org/about/about.htm
Official announcement follows:
----------------------------------------------


Take your finger and touch your nose, blink three 
times, and off we go! Join Justin and Mr Tumble as they take you Out and About. 


http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/somethingspecial/games/#/lb/somethingspecial/somethingspecial-outandabout
Today the 100th episode of multi-award winning series 
Something Special was shown on CBeebies! To mark the occasion we have created 
what we think is a fantastic new website embracing the same inclusive approach 
as the Something Special TV programme. It showcases a selection of beautifully 
made Something Special games and clips carefully designed to work with the 
abilities and developmental goals of children who have profound and multiple 
special needs, as well as being engaging and exciting for children everywhere.

We hope it will set a new standard in accessibility 
and excellence for children's websites, and this is why we're so excited about 
it: 
It features... 

- Games designed in conjunction with disabled 
children, parents, SEN teachers and speech & language therapists to support 
the development of young disabled children, covering areas such as 
concentration, association, cause and effect, life skills, communication and 
facial recognition.

- Makaton, which uses signs, symbols and speech to 
help people communicate. Using signs and symbols can encourage early language 
development, particularly for children with communication 
difficulties.

- Simple interface with support for alternative input 
devices (mouse, keyboard, switch, dual switch, touch-screen, microphone or 
webcam) guided by Justin and Mr Tumble, so that even the most profoundly motor 
disabled children can play independently

- Precise control over all aspects of game difficulty 
through either simple presets or detailed customising 

- Settings to control 
how the activities are displayed, with control over wether to display complex 
backgrounds and video, and even interface buttons.

- Designed to work in classrooms, with a full-screen 
interactive whiteboard setting 

- And of course, lots of video clips of Justin, Mr 
Tumble, Grandad Tumble, Lord Tumble and all the Tumble Family
 
 		 	   		  
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