Orange Grove Center opens arcade

photo Dr. Rick Rader

The Orange Grove Center cut the ribbon on Friday morning to mark the official opening of the Heartland Arcade.

Orange Grove is a private, nonprofit organization serving more than 700 adults and children with developmental disabilities.

"Everything you need to learn in life you can learn in an arcade," said Dr. Rick Rader, director of the habilitation center at Orange Grove.

Rader said the idea for creating an arcade at the Center was not modeled after another facility or program, but from his own experience growing up in an arcade.

He said arcade games teach and develop motor skills, self-esteem, cooperation, and persistence, just to name a few.

Orange Grove is collaborating with UTC's Department of Health Promotion and Human Performance to study the impact of the arcade and track exact benefits.

See more in Saturday's Times Free Press.

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