Online Gaming and Emancipation: The Case of People with Physical Disabilities Communities of Practice

This article seeks to understand whether playing online video games can potentially emancipate people with physical disabilities (PwPD). As the principal author (Hastas), my personal experience is that the confidence I have gained through online gaming transcended into the offline world and has made a difference in my life. It is important to understand how this potential emancipation is experienced in the online and offline worlds and how one world can influence the other. Emancipation refers to a liberation from oppressive forces in a person’s social world. PwPD experience marginalisation, which limits their ability to socially flourish. Literature states that online video games generally provide people a platform to experience greater autonomy, independence, and a sense of achievement. This study looks at the experiences of 15 young Australian gamers with physical disabilities who undertake online gaming as part of their leisure activities. The research investigated the conditions of online gaming which can facilitate emancipation, such as its anonymous and empowering nature. Another condition of potential emancipation is the ability to freely participate in online video games, which is known as affinity spaces, and is already established within the literature (Abrams and Lammers, 2017). The methodology for this paper involves semi-structured online interviews as well as autoethnography. This article presents how online gaming for PwPD can improve confidence and provide empowerment through the act of rendering their disability invisible to other gamers, thereby presenting an identity unimpeded by prejudicial perceptions. This empowerment may also impact their offline world by transcending the online–offline barrier.