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Compared to the casual gamer population as a whole (which industryestimates peg at 300 million to 400 million players worldwide), those withdisabilities play more frequently, for more hours per week, and for longerperiods of time per gaming session. They also report that they experience moresignificant benefits from playing and view their game-playing activity as amore important factor in their lives than do non-disabled consumers.
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Profile of Respondents
A total of 13,296 casual game players responded to the survey, with 2,728respondents (20.5%) identifying themselves as "mildly" (22%), "moderately"(54%) or "severely" (24%) disabled. Of those, 46% indicated that their primarydisability was physical, 29% said it was mental, and 25% stated they had adevelopmental or learning disability. Over two thirds (69%) of disabledrespondents were female, and a third (35%) of all respondents had anotherperson -- parent, adult offspring, spouse, guardian or caregiver -- assistthem in taking the survey.
The most common types of disabilities and medical conditions cited byrespondents, by category, were:
The majority (61%) of those survey respondents with a physical disabilityare age 50 or older, while slightly more than half (52%) of those with adevelopmental/learning disability are under 18 years of age.
Perceived Benefits of Play
Fully 94% of disabled players of casual games said they believe playingcasual games "provides physical or mental benefits" -- compared to 80% ofcasual game players overall. The most common benefits cited by disabled gamers(when asked to choose as many as applied) were stress relief (81%), moodlifting (69%), distraction from issues related to disability (66%), improvedconcentration (59%) and mental workouts (58%). Interestingly, the top benefitsvaried significantly based on the type of disability; the top three benefitsby disability type were:
Those with developmental/learning disabilities cited learning (patternrecognition, spelling, typing skills) far more often (61%) than those withdisabilities that were mental (26%) or physical (23%).
Furthermore, 77% of disabled players said playing casual games providesthem with "additional benefits over and above what a typical non-disabledplayer might experience."
Of the "additional benefits," responses were numerous and varied, oftenciting deeper sensations of achievement and "belonging," or distraction fromloneliness and/or chronic pain. As one respondent put it, "Our son withAttention Deficit Disorder does not really remember he has a disability whenhe is playing." Dr. Carl Arinoldo, a Stony Brook, New York-based psychologistof 25 years' experience who has treated patients with a range of physical andmental disabilities, agrees: "With some forms of depression, a person may bevery focused on something that clearly amounts to a misperception of reality.So the chance to distance themselves from the perceived negative situation andrelax may allow them to think more clearly and consider the situation later ina more realistic manner.
