Help Us Help You: Game Master and Player Perspectives on Introducing Accommodations for Disabilities at the (Therapeutic) Gaming Table
A presentation by Rene Joy PSS, Writer, Designer, Organizer (She|They) , David Perlman PhD, Medical Ethics, MS, Health Psychology , Beau Jagr Sheldon (they/he) , Halley Palmer LICSW (she/her/hers) , Nico Meyering MPA and Chrissy Profera LSW (She|They)
About this Event
Providing accommodations to players and Game Masters (GMs) makes inclusion and equity possible at the gaming table. Table Top Role Playing Games (TTRPGs) have embraced a variety of tools and interventions designed to support the mental health of RPG players. In addition, many GMs have also introduced a variety of accommodations and/or interventions designed to support people with disabilities to allow everyone to play at their best. One example is the recent work that Wizards of the Coast, the makers of Dungeons & Dragons, along with disabled players and GMs, have done with “D&D for All.”
In this panel of experienced TTRPG players and/or GMs, we will briefly present on our individual experiences regarding accommodations as GMs and players in therapeutic and non-therapeutic TTRPG contexts. Our goal is to destigmatize and universalize the need for accommodations and foster dialogue on how best to seek and implement them. The panel will then answer questions from the audience and engage in cross-fertilization and discussion in terms of experiences, tips, tools, and interventions and how successful they have been to “help us help you” play your best TTRPGs.
Concepts and practices for lay GMs and players can be used to provide accommodations of disabilities at the gaming table, whether the context be therapeutic, home play, or organized public play. Panelists will also issue a call to action to applied TTRPG practitioners and researchers to champion and support open source and crowdsourced toolkits for the TTRPG community who might need accommodations at the gaming table.
Learning Objectives:
1. Articulate the reasoning for implementation of different accommodations at TTRPG gaming tables
2. Describe the benefits of accessible and inclusive TTRPGs
3. Share advice, resources, and ideas to ensure proper accommodations
4. Learn about/from experiences and “accessibility journey” of players and GMs
About The Presenters
Rene Joy is a writer, designer, gamer and peer support specialist focused on harm reduction and trauma recovery in communities and across systems of care.
Clinical Research Project Manager, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Veteran educator, scholar, and author. Playing RPGs since the 1980s (ask me what my THAC0 is).
Clinician and Founder, The Therapy Guild
Neurodivergent therapist and founder of The Therapy Guild, specializing in working with queer and neurodivergent folks.