The Childhood OCD Project. JJsPlace.org
Conceptualized and created by the MaMaMedia Professional Services Group, JJ's Place is the flagship website for the Childhood OCD Project, a foundation based in Boulder, Colorado. Their mission is to help mitigate the impact of childhood OCD by building a community and providing information to affected children and their families, friends, teachers, and therapists.
OCD can be a terrifying disease. Happy kids can suddenly become obsessed about things that seem trivial and silly -- like washing, or going outside, or doing homework. Parents can easily misunderstand what's happening to their child. It can be hard to figure out what to do, and harder still to find the help you need to do it. The family doctor may not know how to spot OCD, or might refer you to a mental health professional who is unfamiliar with treating OCD. Meanwhile, OCD kids may struggle in school, with friends, with grandparents, and family -- all while trying to combat their private obsessions and compulsions.
This Prototype was developed in 2003, to help the foundation raise money for the full project. JJ's Place is the first website of its kind. The Childhood OCD Project has a commitment to increase the quality of information and resources for kids and decrease parents' and teachers' confusion.
JJ and her dog Molly (who knows everything about OCD) welcomes visitors and guide them into the various activities, games, and resources. JJ's story is just one among many, there are six other characters with different types of OCD, designed to help with diagnosis, communication, and treatment, making JJ's Place an important new child-centric, project-based, playful community -- all about Childhood OCD.
While JJ's Place is the Project's first attempt to improve the lives of kids with OCD; it will not be the last. The Project hopes to expand to produce books, videos, and other materials for parents and grandparents, teachers, therapists, and physicians. In addition, they hope to raise funds to translate JJ's Place and other materials into other languages for distribution to children and families around the world.