Ryan Post Plays Pinball without His Hands
Boy gets pinball machine after seeing it at Abilities Expo 
From: Abilities Buzz - 12/2007

James Rufus Koren from the Valley Press reports that unless you watch for a
few minutes, it might look like Ryan Post is controlling the flippers with
his mind - willing the steel balls to bounce from target to target. But look
carefully, and you'll a black cable running from the pinball machine to the
back of Ryan's wheelchair. Scrutinize the scene further and you'll notice
Ryan's left elbow moving ever so slightly whenever the paddles shoot the ball
across the board. 

Ryan, 11, has scoliosis - a severe curvature of the spine - and
arthrogryposis - a muscle and joint condition that keeps him from moving much
at all. He controls his wheelchair with his mouth, using a small joystick
that touches his chin, along with two "micro switches" - sensitive buttons
that don't require much force - positioned under his arms. 

With the modified Spider-man pinball machine that now sits in his living room
- a gift from the Make-a-Wish Foundation - Ryan can use those micro switches
to play the arcade classic with no more than a twitch of his left elbow. 

"It's exciting," said Ryan, whose mouth and eyes opened wide when he saw the
machine sitting next the couch in the den of his parents' Palmdale home. That
look, a face full of excitement, is something his parents say they don't get
to see often. 

"It's the kind of look every parent wants to see on their child's face at
least once," said Amy Post, who adopted Ryan when he was an infant. "It's
harder for us to achieve with a child as disabled as Ryan." So Amy and her
husband, Dan, were grateful when the Make-a-Wish Foundation called. This
summer, Ryan played a modified pinball machine at the Abilities Expo - an
annual showcase of products and services for people with disabilities - in
Anaheim. 

"He was just having a blast," Amy Post said. "He sunk the Pirates of the
Caribbean pirate ship," Dan Post said. The pinball machine had a system that
allowed it to plug into the micro switches on Ryan's wheelchair. Before then,
Ryan said, "I didn't know what a pinball machine was."  

But since the expo, he had been telling anyone and everyone about playing
pinball in Anaheim, and his pediatrician said she would get in touch with
Make-a-Wish. "Make-a-Wish was really interested," Amy Post said. "Nobody had
ever asked for a pinball machine." Local volunteers interviewed Ryan, and the
wish worked its way through the process. But Amy and Dan said they didn't
want Ryan to get his hopes up too high. 

The modified machine cost more than $10,000, Amy said. But Ryan might be able
to make the machine worth Make-a-Wish's money. Amy said she hopes the pinball
machine will open Ryan up socially - because of his wheelchair, he can't go
to many friends' houses, and if friends came to the Posts' house, there
wouldn't be much for them to do in the way of fun and games. 

"Your friends are going to be saying, 'Can you pencil me in for January?'"
Amy told Ryan. He says he'll tell them, "Just bring 25 cents."  

Links:
He's a pinball wizard
http://avpress.com/n/18/1218_s1.hts

Make-a-Wish Foundation of Los Angeles grant heartfelt Wish
http://www.domainnews.com/general/2007121982/make-a-wish-foundation%C2%AE-of-greater-los-angeles-and-overseenet-team-up-to-grant-heartfelt-wish-%E2%80%9Cpinball-wizard%E2%80%9D/

Season of Wishes: Pinball Wizard's Wish Granted at the Grove
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlLA/season_of_giving/season_of_wishes_pinball_wizards_wish_granted_at_the_grove_73257.asp?c=rss