A:AnswerIt is possible. If you haven't already, you should look up this controller on YouTube as well as Microsoft's listing for this on their web site. Then you will get an idea of what other people have been able to do with this controller. In essence, it is a hub for other switches. If you look at the back of the adaptive controller, you will see plug-ins for other things...for switches that can take the place of the buttons on a traditional xbox controller. The traditional xbox controller has a left trigger and right trigger, a left bumpber and right bumper, a left stick and right stick (both of which function as an up/down/left/right stick as well as a push button), a D-pad for the left thumb and an A, B, X, and Y button for the right thumb, a Start Button and a menu button, as well as the Xbox button. With the adaptive controller, you can buy dedicated switches, buttons, toggles, or sticks for each function on the xbox contoller and plug them into the back of the adaptive controller. Being able to attach assign the function of the xbox controller to a switch/stick/button that you can then place wherever the user needs it can be helpful. Some peoples hands, for example, can't fit around the xbox controller, so they need a trigger or switch that can be placed in their grasp seperate from the controller. Other people may have limited movement of their hands and are able to put a button beside their head where they can knock the button when they need to by moving their head...or beneath their foot...or wherever movement is still possible. Whether or not any of this could help your grandson depends on his specific needs. If it is to be useful, you will probably need to purchase the buttons or switches that are to be added to this controller to make it useful (as it is, it is really only a hub for other switches with very few buttons present already). Alternatively, you may want to consider an Elite controller. An Elite controller looks like a traditional Xbox controller, but has many features that can help those with limited mobility play games. The first and most important thing an Elite controller has is the ability to "map" button functions wherever you want. By mapping the Elite controller's buttons, you are telling the Xbox where you want a given input to come from--so pushing the A button could be made to be the same as pulling the left trigger, or the D-pad could be made to to what the right stick does, or the right upper paddle on the back of the controller could be made to function as the right stick's push/click function. My son, who has muscular dystrophy, currently uses an Elite controller for this very thing. For some games he is required to make hard clicks with his left and right sticks, and he can't press that hard any more, so he "maps" that function to a paddle on the back of the controller that doesn't requier much force. Additionally, the Elite controller has swappable sticks of three different sizes for the front so you can pick the ones that fit the player's hands the best. Finally, the triggers of the Elite controller can be made to be more or less sensitive depending on what the player wants/needs. These are the most important abilities the Elite controllers have. They may or may not be useful to your grandson. Again, I would recommend checking out YouTube videos featuring both the Adaptive and the Elite controllers to see how they work. Also, you can go to Microsoft's web site and look up what they have to say. Finally, you can check out Ablegamers.com (who helped to create the Adaptive controller) to see what they have to say as well...they've been working with gamers with disabilites for quite a while.
