Apple Helps Connect Children In a Cyber-Community Setting

Darin Stageberg, DO-IT counselor/coordinator

This past April, Apple Computer, Inc. unveiled Convomania, a new World Wide Web site for kids who are disabled or have a severe illness. Convomania lets kids share their emotions and ideas with others like them in an online environment.

The Web site has six areas designed to enable children to communicate and interact with one another:

Say It--a place where kids participate in online chats.
Stick It--a digital magnetic poetry game that helps facilitate expression.
Share It--a message board for kids to share ideas 24 hours a day.
Solve It--a place to ask questions and receive answers about what it's like to live with chronic illness.
Sketch It--a digital art gallery focusing on illness-related themes.
Show It--a forum for kids to express themselves using theater art skills.

Convomania is an alliance between Apple and several other organizations nationwide (leading children's hospitals, camps and organizations for kids with disabilities). For more information about Convomania contact Rob Goodman, Apple Computer, Inc., (408) 974-0261, goodman1@apple.com.