A GAME that aims to raise awareness of disabilities has been handed to Stawell Neighbourhood House.
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Grampians Community Health chief executive Greg Little said handing the RuralAccess snakes and ladders game to Stawell Neighbourhood House was appropriate.
“We thought it was very appropriate for the game to sit with people who have a disability and for them to have it as their own,” he said.
“It’s also important to share the game with people who do not have a disability to show them what it’s actually like to have a disability.”
The aim of the game is to create conversation about how society and individuals respond and react to difference and disability.
More than 350 people in Victoria created the game as they recounted their experience of living with a disability.
In the game, there are three types of items people can land on.
If the person lands on a snake, a card will be read recounting a person’s negative experience of their disability.
Bridges are used to show that ladders are inaccessible for people with a disability, and so a card recounting a person’s positive experience of their disability will be read.
If the person lands on a question mark, the game will pose a question about the person’s own values and reactions.
“When we grew up we took it for granted games like snakes and ladders were things we could do, as able bodied people,” Mr Little said.
“But we don’t actually think people with disabilities may want to play the same games and should enjoy the same games.”
This version of snakes and ladders not only creates disability awareness, but is also something people with and without a disability can play, Mr Little said.
Grampians Community Health’s Julie-Anne Burwood said the questions in the game were modified for each age group and the cards would be regularly updated.
“In recent years I went to Skene Street Specialist School and we talked about their experiences, so we could update the game,” she said.
Grampians Community Health have had the game for eight years. The game was created 11 years ago.