Despite my previous rant about Techball, there can be situations where reducing the physical aspect of the game can be a good thing.

The Winnipeg Sun reports on a specially designed pinball table being used to help disabled kids. The table is located at the Rehabilitation Centre for Children and has been modified to allow use by a wide range of people including those in wheelchairs. The flipper buttons are very large and require only minimal pressure to operate, if necessary the whole control panel can be removed from the machine for wheelchair use.

The pinball itself isn’t directly therapeutic, instead it’s used to relax kids attending the centre. The special table cost $8500 (Canadian) and was paid for with the help of a local business group.

This is a really great idea, I wonder if there’s any chance of places in the UK taking it up? It wouldn’t need to be restricted to disabled kids - or even kids at all. Anywhere that people get tense whilst waiting, for example a dental surgery, could potentially benefit from having an unmodified table on freeplay. Might this be a way of rehabilitating not just patients but also pinball itself?