The history of Virtual Ability, Inc. began on the largest US dating website for disabled people, LoveByrd. There, a group of friends began thinking about how important the concept of community was for those who faced barriers to participation in the physical community in which they lived. They began asking other disabled people what their idea of "community" was and what they expected from being a member of a community. From this research, the friends determined that people with disabilities want the same things everyone else does. They want companionship and friendship especially with people who understand the limitations placed on them by their disabling conditions. They need to learn more about their own conditions, about health and wellbeing, and about resources available to make their lives better. They want a chance to be employed or to do volunteer work since both give back to our community. And, they want to have fun. This was really no surprise, nor was it a surprise that these things were difficult to achieve in the world outside their homes. People who are disabled are often socially isolated, even physically isolated, within their geographic communities. So the three friends from LoveByrd decided to explore virtual reality as a setting within which to build a supportive community. They collected medical research about the benefits of operating in virtual reality that accrue to people with different kinds of disabilities. They visited the websites of a half dozen different virtual worlds, and chose Second Life as the one to colonize first, since it seemed to be the richest cultural environment and the most fully developed. The three co-founders of the organization came into Second Life in early June of 2007. Several things surprised them right off. One was that they did not get to choose their avatar's last name, but were to select from a list provided by the Lindens. They decided that using the last name “Heron” seemed to be the most reasonable from those from those being offered at that time. Choosing the avatar names Sodapop Heron, Superquiet Heron, and Gentle Heron, they began to explore Second Life. They did not set up the project immediately, since they knew that they had to find out what already existed in terms of support, and needed to learn how Second Life worked for its citizens. They never thought of themselves as players in a game, however, which is quite different than most of the people who have avatars in Second Life. They were always focused on the goal of setting up a support community for people with disabilities. In their initial explorations of Second Life, Gentle, Soda, and SQ Heron met many kind and generous people who shared their understanding about how Second Life operated. Eventually they came across the Accessibility Center on HealthInfo Island. That is where they met Lorelei Junot, who is a librarian and is responsible for setting up the Information Island archipelago within Second Life. She allowed them to use a plot of land on EduIsland 4, and the project began. They wanted to create a name that identified group members, but did not stigmatize them. They purposefully wanted the group to include both disabled and nondisabled people. They had by then experienced Second Life “griefing” and recognized it for the bullying experienced by handicapped people in Real Life, so they did not want anyone to be able to point to someone wearing our group tag and say "There goes a person with a disability." They settled on the project name “The Heron Sanctuary” to honor the avatar name of the three co-founders and to represent the vision of a supportive community. By February 2008, just eight months after starting, The Heron Sanctuary had helped numerous people get “up and running” in Second Life, had created a community of more than 150 individuals, and had developed a growing reputation within SL as the leading organization dealing with the support of people with real world disabilities. We had proven our core concepts: that we can assist disabled people to come into virtual worlds like Second Life and function normally there, and that there are tremendous benefits to them in doing so. Based upon this early success, and upon the recognition of increasing demand and potential for our services, The Heron Sanctuary decided to embark on a growth strategy in late 2007. As part of that strategy, we looked carefully at the original name, and realized that many people mistook "The Heron Sanctuary" for an organization that provided a safe place for large, blue-feathered wading birds. Accordingly, after discussions with the existing membership, a new name - Virtual Ability, Inc. - was selected for the corporate structure of the organization in January 2008. |