Ryan Betson
Over the years anybody who enjoys playing video games or tabletop games has heard the clichéd sayings, "That's such a waste of time" or "You should get outside more". However, as time has gone by society has become more accepting of gaming as a hobby which can have great social, analytical, strategic & mathematic benefits. So much so that an organisation in Victoria, genU GAMER, was established. This group aims to help people with physical disabilities or mental health & neurodivergent conditions such as ADHD & autism overcome their difficulties through the power of gaming.
Leading up genU GAMER is Paris Conte & long-time content creator Ryan Betson. Pario recently sat down with Ryan to discuss the benefits & utter joy that the passion for gaming can bring.
What is genU GAMER?
According to Betson, genU GAMER is "a series of programs using gaming hobbies as the universal language to assist individuals to understand themselves & the world around them." This assistance typically involves building socialisation skills, interpersonal skills or simply finding a community of like-minded individuals to help break the isolation they may be feeling.
The formation of genU GAMER came after Ryan's colleague Paris Conte took a look around at what youth & support services as a whole offered & how there was a group of people falling through the cracks. During this evaluation period, Betson says Conte realised that many of the socialisation programs had people in them for 10-15 years, which he said “is not socialisation, that’s institutionalisation without the walls."
Under the GAMER banner, both Conte & Betson made it a goal of theirs to "make ourselves redundant" because that would mean the program worked.
How does genU GAMER work?
The biggest challenge that genU GAMER regularly faces is simply getting clients involved in the program, simply because of the stigma surrounding youth services. As Betson explained, "Most individuals, especially youth & young adults, don't want to get involved in youth services because they're normally run by 'suits' who don't get it.
To overcome this hurdle Conte & Ryan knew they needed to find something that made the program not feel like a typical youth service or health program. Thus they used gaming.
Much like a parent hiding vegetables inside a lasagna or a sausage roll genU GAMER uses "skills building hidden within gaming." Under this approach, clients can participate in tabletop gaming groups, console or PC gaming groups & even content creation groups. The one constant factor being that each & every client's program must be developed to meet defined goals.
As Betson explained the tabletop gaming group is the model example of how the genU GAMER program works.
"Tabletop gaming has the ability to allow our clients to practice a number of different important skills... By using an avatar tabletop gaming allows them to test different outside world scenarios in this new world, that to them is just as real as the real world. Whether that be 'How do I communicate with people?' or, 'How do I teamwork?' or, 'How do I put my hand up to say this is what I think we should do as a team?' or even, 'How do I cope with being nervous?'"
Success stories
During our conversation, the moment that really saw Ryan light up was when he was asked about the success stories of the program. While there were many, we recommend watching the full interview on our website, there was 1 in particular that made Ryan incredibly proud.
"PAX is our unofficial graduation, so at the end of each year if our clients take everything they've learned throughout the year they can take on PAX with us. For those that don't know, PAX is the largest gaming convention in the Southern Hemisphere with nothing but bleeps & bloops & people dressed up. So it's sensory overload.
"The first year we went the clients were stuck to us & wouldn't go anywhere on their own. By the second year, they scattered & went off on their own without us. Then by the third year, we brought a new group of kids, who were just as scared as the first group, but instead of sticking to us the first group went 'Hey, come with us' & took the new kids out onto the floor without us.
"Then finally, this past year for a bunch of logistical reasons we couldn't go to PAX. Later on though, we found out half of them went on their own anyway! They didn't need us anymore, which is the best-case scenario & exactly why we do what we do."
Follow Ryan's Creative Journey on social media at: @PopCulturists
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