Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies

People with disabilities are part of the fabric of every Maine community! Last summer, Disability Rights Maine (DRM) partnered with the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS), the Maine Developmental Disabilities Council, and Speaking Up for Us (SUFU) to gather stories from disabled people across Maine about why they value being part of their communities and why everyone should value their disabled community members.

State and federal investments in home- and community-based services (HCBS), transportation, housing, assistive technology, employment, public accommodations, and self-advocacy are critical to ensuring that people with disabilities are not only included, but also empowered to speak up, make choices, and fully participate in their communities.

Access removes barriers, not people.

This March, AUCD is proud to celebrate Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month by joining the We’re Here: Then, Now, Always campaign, led by the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities.

As you may have heard, the Maine Office of Aging & Disability Services (OADS) is creating a new group called the Quality Improvement Coalition (QIC). A QIC is a group that helps improve the quality of services and supports paid for by the State. This group will look at both developmental services and long-term supports […]

Maine Calling, is doing a special series called Ready and Able, Living with a Disability in Maine. In their most recent segment in this series, they focused on assistive technology or AT. Lonnie Carlson, Executive Director from MaineCITE (Community Inclusion through Technology) A CAC partner organization, was featured in the show to share information and […]

Former NH-ME LEND trainee Andrea Dole has been working on this caregiver law since she first testified in the Maine Legislature in April 2021. She was an important stakeholder in 2023 when lawmakers in Maine finally passed a law to pay parents with children with disabilities as their caregivers. But 2 years later, parents are […]

On April 9, as part of their capstone project for NH-ME LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities), LEND trainees and two LEND instructors met with Maine’s congressional delegation on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, to present the trainees’ policy brief on Medicaid-funded Home and Community Based Services that support people with disabilities and […]

Applications are now being accepted for the 2025-2026 New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (NH-ME LEND) Program at the University of Maine. This is a graduate-level interdisciplinary, leadership training program in maternal and child health and neurodevelopmental disabilities. Participation requires a minimum commitment of 300 hours over 9 months. Competitive scholarships are available for […]

On December 23, 2024, President Biden signed into law the bipartisan Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education and Support Act, or Autism CARES Act of 2024. The Autism CARES Act is the most comprehensive federal law addressing the urgent needs of children, adolescents, and adults with autism. Over its 17-year history, this law has resulted in […]

The plenary sessions from the June 2024 Institute on Theology and Disability are now available on YouTube. The Institute was hosted by Boston College’s Clough School of Theology and Ministry. Some of the plenary topics include the following: Spiritual Dimensions of Trauma, Healing, Resiliency, and Disability; Worship and Community Through the Lens of Autism; and Theology, Disability […]