I've been an Internet junkie for more than 10 years. After my brother gave me my first computer, I was hooked into a global village with many names but few faces.

In junior college, I listened to a professor talk about how the Internet would change the world. We students rolled our eyes and kept quiet, ignorant of the accuracy of his prediction. The Internet has changed the world, and its biggest impact has been on the disability community.

People will argue that most of the money made on the World-Wide Web is through pornography, but big money isn't what I'm talking about. For people with disabilities, the Internet has opened the gates to earning a decent living.

EBay, the Internet giant of online selling, has joined forces with Marjie Smith, founder and executive director of the Disabled Online Users Association, a nonprofit organization, to help people in the disability community become merchants in cyberspace.

Smith was a government employee before an accident and complications from surgery made her a wheelchair-user 13 years ago. She found her niche on the Internet, making a home for herself and helping others in similar circumstances.

While selling through eBay since 1996, Smith developed a network of disabled people interested in using the Internet to supplement their incomes. She also recently launched "A Helping Hand" - in conjunction with Auction Ethics, an online discussion board for auction sellers and users - to assist disabled individuals in achieving financial independence.

Marjie says, "No one ever needs to know that we are differently abled. The majority of us want to work, need to work and love to work. It's just that we don't fit into the 'mainstream,' and sometimes employers are afraid to hire us."

The Disabled Online Users Association has developed a comprehensive program to give the novice online seller a level of comfort and support to start an at-home business.

Smith explains, "Our goal at DOUA is to help the differently abled become self-sufficient and independent. If you're disabled and would like to start your own online business, we can help."

Smith has a mentor program, in which experienced sellers, disabled and not, guide freshmen through the online selling process. Participants first are screened for eligibility as legally disabled people and are given tangible and intangible tools for success, such as loaner cameras and postage scales, start-up products and mentor support via telephone and e-mail, all free of charge. Regardless of disability, each participant is assigned a mentor to improve his or her selling skills.

Program participants are required to post links to the resulting eBay auctions on the Disabled Online Users Association message board and may be asked to provide support for program newcomers. Smith also sells through her Web site - www.Abovethemall.com - on eBay auctions and through her eBay store.

My professor was right. The Internet did change the world. And everyone is welcome.

To find out more, visit the Disabled Online Users Association Web site at www.doua.info, or send an e-mail to contact@doua.info.