Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies

Speaking Up For Us of Maine (SUFU), is a statewide organization run by and for adults who live with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). They recently produced three resources to help educate and guide adults with I/DD on the following topics: speaking up; making informed choices; and moving from self advocacy to self determination. The University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion […]

Source: Licensing deal brings Afari mobility device invented by UMaine professors to market (UMaine News, March 22, 2022) In 2013, professor of interdisciplinary disability studies and social work Elizabeth DePoy had been persuaded by her husband to run in a 5K. She knew she was fit enough to complete the course, but balance challenges had her worried […]

Source: Administration for Community Living, Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month 2022 (March 1, 2022) Every March, the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD) and its partners collaborate to observe Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month (DDAM). The social media campaign highlights the many ways in which people with and without disabilities come together to form strong, diverse communities. The campaign seeks to raise awareness about the […]

In late January, the New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (NH-ME LEND) Program hosted a panel discussion and keynote speaker as part of their virtual Spring Kick Off Event, Organizing to Influence Your State’s Policy. The six panelists, two from NH and four from ME, represented a variety of perspectives on policy-making and generated […]

Applications for the 2022-2023 New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (NH-ME LEND) Program at the University of Maine are being accepted on a rolling basis. Participation requires a minimum commitment of 300 hours over 9 months. Competitive scholarships are available to qualified applicants with funding provided by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau. The NH-ME […]

It’s a cold morning in late November and Jake, a high school junior, sits on the edge of a leather couch in the University of Maine’s historic Heritage House. He’s accompanied by his mother, Christy; and Hailey Howard, his vocational rehabilitation counselor from the Maine Department of Labor’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR). They’re here […]

Source: University of Maine Alumni Association, “Stephen Gilson and Elizabeth DePoy: An expansive vision of mobility.” Professors and inventors Stephen Gilson and Elizabeth DePoy were recently featured in a column by the University of Maine Alumni Association as part of their “Innovators of UMaine” series that is supported by a grant from the Maine Technology […]

Source: Inclusive Schools Network News Release  (PDF) The Inclusive Schools Network is pleased to announce the 21st Annual Inclusive Schools Week will be celebrated December 6-10, 2021, in classrooms, schools, and communities throughout the world. Inclusive Schools Week (ISW) highlights and celebrates the progress schools have made in providing a supportive and quality education to all students, […]

CCIDS and partners in the Maine Developmental Disabilities Network (the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, Disability Rights Maine, Maine Developmental Disabilities Council, and Speaking Up for Us) collaborated with Gray Media Group (WAGM-TV) to design, produce and broadcast seven video public service announcements (PSAs) to help increase COVID-19 vaccinations among […]

Source: Maine launches a new checking account to help expand banking options for Mainers with disabilities. Maine Public / Jennifer Mitchell (October 19, 2021) “Unlike other ABLE programs to come from that same 2014 legislation . . . Maine’s program is unique in that it allows people who receive disability benefits to save and manage their […]