business and even raise families, may seem an odd place for the charity to reach its audience. But Contact a Family insists it is is only going where the parents already are. As those caring for disabled children may find it hard to leave the house and get help, many seek refuge in the virtual world and in online communities. http://www.theguardian.com/society/2008/jun/10/secondlife.disability
The University of Missouri published in January 2010 a journal mentioning the following:
On November 28, 2007, Tracy Smith did a report on the Early Show about Second Life and its gift to the disabled. The gift Second Life was abundantly giving to the disabled community was freedom. Tracy Smith interviewed a woman named Nanci Schenkein, Baccara Rhodes in Second Life. Nanci was an event planner in real-life until she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and was then forced to retire. Nanci turned to Second Life to help her to achieve the things she used to be able to do. Through Second Life, Nanci was able to do much more than most Multiple Sclerosis patients are able to do. She was able to continue a career that she was forced to retire from in real-life, as a result of her illness. Nanci was enslaved by her illness, but Second Life empowered her and allowed her to escape its captivity.
People who become disabled later on in life often use Second Life as a way to return to their original identity. Many people with virtual disabilities are not disabled in real-life. Some of them use it as a second personality and other just want to see what it is like to be disabled. No matter their reasons, the thing that remains the same is that their disabled identity is not a core part of them. It is and additional identity.
Disabled persons on Second Life have received freedom, equality, and control from the Second Life community. Yet, their real-life communities refuse to give them such liberties. Simon Walsh and JWheels Carver have different opinions about having virtual disabilities, but they seem to agree that Second Life's gifts of freedom, equality, and control can be enjoyed regardless of the virtual identity a person chooses to have. The identity disabled and non-disabled persons choose to have is based on many different factors, but it is not based on the amount of control, equality, and freedom they feel that they have.There are places in Second Life for the disabled community, to meet new people with and without disabilities. Places created for those with disabilities to have fun and escape from their real-life challenges.