As Fran and Barbara tell it, the more time Fran spent in Second Life, the younger she felt in real life. Watching her avatar hike trails and dance gave her the confidence to try things in the physical world that she hadn’t tried in a half decade — like stepping off a curb or standing up without any help. These were small victories, but they felt significant to Fran.

That is from a fascinating new article on the effect Second Life has had on the disability community. It seems that immersion in online worlds gets a lot of push back these days, but (at least as this article tells it) immersive virtual worlds can be a major positive influence for those across the disability spectrum.

Here is a short video about Fran, the main character in the story.