Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies

WHEREAS, October 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of National Disability Employment Awareness Month; and  WHEREAS, workplaces across our state that are welcoming of the talents of all people, including people with disabilities, are critical to healthy communities and a strong economy; and WHEREAS, while the employment of persons with disabilities ages 16 to 64 in […]

CCSM and our partners at Disability Rights Maine, Speaking Up For Us, The University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, and Maine Developmental Disabilities Council, are pleased to share candidate videos featuring those running for Governor, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House. Each video lets the candidates speak directly to voters about their […]

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.

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 […]

Elizabeth DePoy, Ph.D., and Stephen French Gilson, Ph.D., were two of the four experts in disability and rehabilitative studies consulted by This Old House for The Complete Guide to Moving with a Disability. Having a well-planned and accessible moving strategy is crucial to make the process more manageable. DePoy and Gilson are University of Maine […]

CCIDS research associates Marnie Morneault and Bonnie Robinson have collaborated on the development of a new multi-language online resource, Opening Child Care in Maine: Resources and Support.  Since 2015, Morneault has been providing technical assistance to New Mainers who have children with disabilities. These families frequently mention the difficulty they have in accessing culturally appropriate childcare […]