CCIDS
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CCIDS and NERCEP Partnership Enters Third Year
(October 1, 2007) CCIDS is entering the third year of its
partnership with the University of Massachusetts Boston, Institute
for Community Inclusion, to provide the needed link with Maine for
the
New England Rehabilitation Continuing Education Program
(NERCEP). NERCEP is part of the Rehabilitation Services
Administration’s national network of continuing rehabilitation
education centers for employment service providers, offering
training and technical assistance to improve employment outcomes for
people with disabilities.
The Center’s primary role in the project is to provide technical
assistance and curriculum development expertise focusing on the
employment support needs of individuals with autism. The Center has
developed and field-tested an employment curriculum,
Supporting Employment for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder,
and will offer it in Maine and New England.
Robert (BJ) Kitchin receives 2007 APHA DisAbility Forum Award
(September 27, 2007) CCIDS Research Associate Robert (BJ) Kitchin is this year's
recipient of the American Public Health Association's DisAbility
Forum Student Member Award. This competitive award is presented each
year to one student who has conducted promising work to advance the
health and quality of life of people with disabilities. Currently,
BJ is pursuing an interdisciplinary Ph.D. that examines the
intersection of accessibility, human rights and technology within
the framework of disability studies.
Web Portal to Translate Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Websites
into Accessible Formats
(September 15, 2007) CCIDS has been awarded funding from the
American Legacy Foundation for a one-year initiative entitled the
Tobacco Access Portal Project. In collaboration with Trefoil
Corporation of Orono, Maine and the Bangor Literacy Center, this
project involves the development, evaluation, and dissemination of a
web portal that will translate existing tobacco prevention,
cessation and control websites into low literacy and accessible
formats. Elizabeth DePoy (Professor and Coordinator of
Interdisciplinary Disability Studies) and Stephen Gilson (Professor,
Interdisciplinary Disability Studies) are Co-Principal Investigators
on the project.
DePoy, Gilson Publish New Text on Social Work, Human Behavior
(September 7, 2007) Elizabeth DePoy and Stephen Gilson, Co-Coordinators of the
Center's Interdisciplinary Disability Studies concentration and
Professors of Social Work, recently published their seventh book, a
textbook titled The Human Experience: Description, Explanation, and
Judgment (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007)
Building on historical and current diversity scholarship and
debates, DePoy and Gilson posit that individuals are assigned to
diversity categories and engender both public and private responses
on the basis of changing sets of values. In this new text, the
authors advance a framework that expands and shifts
conceptualizations of diversity.
CCIDS Awarded Four-Year OSEP Personnel Preparation Grant
(September 1, 2007) The University of Maine Center for Community
Inclusion and Disability Studies, in collaboration with the College
of Education and Human Development and the Maine Department of
Education, has received funding from the Office of Special Education
Programs, U.S. Department of Education, to support a four-year
project to address Maine’s critical need for highly-qualified Early
Childhood Special Educators. The project,
Training Opportunities for
Personnel (TOP): Birth-5, represents Maine’s only outreach graduate
study designed to prepare highly-qualified early intervention and
early childhood personnel to serve young children birth to age five
and their families through the State of Maine’s coordinated birth-5
service delivery system. Courses emphasize interdisciplinary,
inclusive, family-centered, culturally competent, evidence-based
competencies and practices.
DePoy Receives 2007 Presidential Research and Creative Achievement
Award (5/11/07)
Dr. Elizabeth DePoy, Professor of Social Work and Co-Coordinator
of Interdisciplinary Disability Studies, has been named the
recipient of the 2007 Presidential Research and Creative Achievement
Award. DePoy joined the faculty of the Department of Social Work in
1989. Since 1992, she has been integrally involved with the Center
for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies where she served as
Coordinator of Research from 1992-2001 and Coordinator of
Interdisciplinary Disability Studies from 2001 to the present. DePoy
holds a joint appointment with both units.
DePoy has published more than 60 scholarly articles, fourteen
book chapters, six multimedia educational modules and seven books.
She has also written numerous grants resulting in awards of more
than $7,000,000 in external funds to support interdisciplinary
research and educational initiatives at the University of Maine.
The text of DePoy's May 11, 2007 Academic Honors Convocation
Address is available online at:
http://www.ccids.umaine.edu/about/news/depoy07.htm
Sue Chevalier presented at Early Reading First New Grantee
Conference FY2006 (5/18/07)
Sue Chevalier, CCIDS Research Associate, along with Jodelle Austin of Child Care
Connections (Cumberland County's Child Care Resource Development
Center), presented, "Coaching: Providing Teachers with Intentional
Supports to Enhance Their Teaching and Children's Learning" at the
Early Reading First New Grantee Conference FY2006 in San Francisco,
CA on April 4, 2007. This presentation was part of a 3-project panel
that included CCIDS'
Portland
Early Literacy Collaborative, the University of Delaware's
Delaware Early Reading First and New York University's New York City
Early Reading First Partnership.
Web accessibility achievements noted in EdTech Magazine
(5/3/07)
The Web accessibility compliance initiative, spearheaded by the
Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies and the
University of Maine Web Accessibility Subcommittee, is featured in
an article in the
May-June 2007 issue of EdTech Magazine. The article, authored by
Alan Parks, details how the University's Web accessibility
policy was developed and supported over the past five years, in an
effort to assure that all University of Maine Web sites are
accessible to the widest possible audience.
Interdisciplinary Disability Studies Recognition Ceremony
(5/2/07)
On May 1, 2007 sixteen students were honored at a recognition
ceremony for successfully completing a concentration in
Interdisciplinary Disability Studies. Family and friends joined IDS
faculty to celebrate their achievement. Student projects were on
display for review and discussion.
Parks Presents at CSUN (3/26/07)
Alan Parks, coordinator of dissemination and technology at the
Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, presented a
workshop, "Using technology to ensure campus-wide accessibility
compliance," at the 22nd Annual Technology & Persons with
Disabilities conference, sponsored by California State University
Northridge (CSUN) in Los Angeles on March 22. Parks' presentation
related the University's efforts at developing and implementing a
508-compliant Web accessibility policy, and the use of HiSoftware
and other tools and training to support campus staff who create and
maintain accessible University sites.
Early Reading First featured on WGME News
(3/23/07)
Early Reading First, a three-year collaborative research project
between the Maine Roads to Quality, Catherine E. Cutler Institute
for Child and Family Policy at the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public
Service, University of Southern Maine, the University of Maine
Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, and the
Portland Public Schools, will be featured Tuesday, March 27, 2007 on
WGME News 13 Live at Five’s Learning Matters with Vivian Bean.
The Early Reading First project focuses on developing early
childhood literacy in preschool classrooms utilizing the Opening the
Worlds of Learning (OWL) Early Literacy Curriculum. The goal of the
project is to improve reading skills for pre-school children
including children with special needs and those who are English
language learners. Under the grant, an early literacy specialist, an
inclusion and coaching specialist, and early literacy coaches work
with four pre-school programs in the Portland area to implement the
research-based curriculum designed to improve children’s language,
cognitive, and early literacy skills.
The WGME taping includes footage of one of the partner teacher’s
classrooms at PROP East End Children’s Workshop in Portland and is
expected to air on the WGME News 13 Live at Five broadcast on March
27, and will be available to view online for the following week at,
http://www.wgme.com/Features/featuresmain.shtml
Funding for the Early Reading First grant (CFDA No. 84.359B) is
provided through the U.S. Department of Education, Office of
Elementary and Secondary Education and is part of the President’s
Good Start, Grow Smart Early Childhood Initiative authorized by No
Child Left Behind. The project runs from October 2005 through
September 2008. For more information about the project, go to
http://www.ccids.umaine.edu/projects/pelc/default.htm
Bonnie Blagojevic selected to be Apple Distinguished Educator
(3/21/07)
Bonnie Blagojevic, research associate at the Center for Community
Inclusion and Disability Studies, has been selected to be an Apple
Distinguished Educator (ADE) for the Class of 2007. She was one of
75 chosen to participate, and joins over 1,000 educators worldwide
as an advocate, advisor, author and ambassador during her
association with the ADE Program. She will travel to California
State University at Monterey Bay in late July 2007 for the ADE
Summer Institute. CCIDS Director Lucille Zeph noted, "The ADE is
highly competitive. It's a great honor to the University and the
Center for Bonnie to be recognized. Her experience will enhance the
work of the Center."
According to Maxx Judd, senior manager, Education Advocacy
Programs, "The Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE) Program began in
1994, when Apple identified key educators from around the globe who
were emerging as leaders in the field of educational technology.
Today, after thirteen years, this community consists of over 1000
educators worldwide who utilize technology to improve teaching and
learning for students from kindergarten through higher education.
Apple is pleased to welcome Bonnie Blagojevic as one of the 100
newly selected members for the ADE Class of 2007. Learn more about
this group of innovative educators online at
http://edcommunity.apple.com/adeprogram."
Center's Web accessibility efforts featured in news
(1/30/2007)
The Center's work in promoting Web site
accessibility was featured in the December 2006 edition of Interface
TECH NEWS (www.interfacetechnews.com).
"Inclusive Internet access: making a Web site disability friendly"
covered the Center's efforts to help the University of Maine develop
a Web accessibility policy, develop an accessibility helpsite, and
promote full inclusion for users of University Webs. The article
targeted primarily the business community.
Alan Parks, coordinator of dissemination and
technology at CCIDS and chair of the University's Universal Design
for the Web Subcommittee, was interviewed for the article, and
provided details about the University's use of HiSoftware products
to help Web designers create accessible sites. He also provided
links to useful sites for designers. He pointed out that Web sites
don't have to look different to be accessible.
CCIDS launches new website
(1/17/2007)
The Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies has
launched a new version of their website at
www.ccids.umaine.edu.
The new site features improved accessibility,
navigation, and usability, such as the Skip Navigation link found at
the top of most pages. This link allows visitors using screen reader
technology to bypass the left navigation bar and go directly to the
main content.
This new site also aligns with the
University of Maine's web template, providing a seamless transition
between University and Center pages.
Questions or
comments about the new site can be directed to:
ccidsmail@umit.maine.edu.
Gilson and DePoy receive 2005 Allen Myers Award
(8/26/05)
Orono, Maine. Professors Stephen Gilson and Elizabeth DePoy will be
receiving the 2005 Allen Myers Award from The Disability Forum of the
American Public Health Association.
This award is given to “individuals who have
effectively combined research, service and advocacy to advance the
status of people with disabilities.”
The award will be presented to Gilson and DePoy for
their scholarship, teaching and policy work at the 2005 the Annual
Meeting of the American Public Health Association, being held in
Philadelphia, PA, December 10-14, 2005.
