Computer Answer Man

Steve Feinberg

      Computer Help for the Non-Expert

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The Saginaw News

Sunday, February 24, 1985

Adventure awaits at tip of fingertips

by Zada Cambridge

page D1

"Feinberg, 33, who recently moved to Saginaw from Syracuse, N.Y., is a computer consultant who aids the non-expert in the purchase of a computer, meeting special needs and adapting the computer for use in unusual applications.  He also organizes computer parties...

...Feinberg used adventure games in his work with learning disabled males in the Syracuse City School District.  When playing the games, the young men, who ranged in age from 14 to 20 years of age, showed a high level of motivation and attention not seen by staff members who regularly worked with them.

Last year he acted as consultant to a 10-week pilot project at Hutchings Psychiatric Center in Syracuse.  Feinberg introduced a select group of psychiatric outpatients to adventure games - a hand picked selection of role-playing games that left players with a positive self-image.

The goal of the project was to provide a satisfying way to train outpatients in the various skills they need for social interaction in the community.

Feinberg said that before the end of the project, participants were not only playing but interacting with each other and their therapists (who had taken to the games as eagerly as their patients had) as they never had before.

Most adventure games are non-judgmental about mistakes, Feinberg said.  They are patient waiting for a response until the player is ready.  They call on study skills to sort out and use given information, observational skills and decision-making abilities.

'The project proved that with creative approaches, you can get outcomes where outcomes had been difficult before,' he said.

Adventure games can be highly motivating for the physically handicapped as well because they do not require fast reflexes, Feinberg said.