Strong Voices

IHC’s game app to help young people with intellectual disabilities learn to manage money – and life – is being put through its paces by students in some Wellington secondary schools.

The app, Stand Tall, developed with online gaming company InGame, challenges players to think about their day-to-day spending choices.

Players can play at their own pace and repeat stages if necessary, and a voiceover option is also available. The game is designed to be played by individuals, but it also works well as a group activity.

Phil Clarke, IHC Head of Library and Information Resourcing, says students at Wainuiomata High School and Hutt Valley High School are the latest to try the app.

“The kids loved it, and they loved creating their own avatar,” says Head of Learning Support at Wainuiomata High School Emily Goldie. She says they were impatient for the group session to be over so they could have a go.

“They needed help initially setting it up but, once they understood, it was really easy to use. ”The students ranged in age from 13 to 21 years. “Obviously the older students got more out of it because that is who it is aimed for.”

Emily says it’s a great tool for use in conjunction with other teaching – at home with parents and in supported living with a carer – and it tackles the hardest transition: leaving school.

Heather Lear, Head of Tautoko, the Supported Learning Centre at Hutt Valley High School, says not all of her 15 students were familiar with gaming scenarios but enjoyed exploring the app and being immersed in a digital world where they had to make their own decisions. “We did it in small groups and it was good to see some of the students being supported by the more capable ones.”

The keener ones were inclined to race ahead. “There is a danger of students clicking through and not actually thinking about it,” she says. “I have been looking for something similar to this for a while. It’s really hard to find life skills stuff pitched at the right level.”

Phil says the game app was showcased at the New Zealand Disability Support Network Conference in Wellington and at the Next Steps Expo 2023 in Christchurch in July. The expo was for young disabled people and their whānau to discover what was available when considering their next steps after school. Stand Tall will also feature at the uLearn23 conference in Auckland and the LIANZA (Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa) conference in Christchurch in October.

The Holdsworth Charitable Trust donated $20,000 in seed funding for Stand Tall, and $75,000 was contributed by the Ministry of Social Development. Other supporters are the Dines Family Charitable Trust, Avanti Finance, Glenn and Sonja Hawkins and SkyCity Auckland Community Trust.

There is a web version of Stand Tall, and it can also be downloaded free on Google Play and Apple iTunes.

“We are open to presenting in-person or remotely to interested schools,” Phil says, and he invites schools to get in touch with him on philip.clarke@ihc.org.nz

Caption: Engrossed in the game at Hutt Valley High School are (from front left, clockwise) Damyen Field, Taylor Rigby, Krystal Te Momo Pope, Gizel Gilbert, Brayden Bain and Olivia Buckham.

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