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Stephen Gilson Awarded 2008 AUCD Multicultural Council Award for Leadership in Diversity

(November 12, 2008) Stephen Gilson, Ph.D., professor of Interdisciplinary Disability Studies, Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, and Social Work, was honored with the 2008 Multicultural Council Award for Leadership in Diversity at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) Annual Meeting and Conference. AUCD is a membership organization comprised of three national networks of interdisciplinary, university-based Centers dedicated to research, education, leadership training, policy development, and direct service for people with disabilities.

Gilson was presented with the award by President-Elect Michael Gamel-McCormick, Ph.D., and President William Kiernan, Ph.D., of the AUCD Board of Directors (photo at right).

The Multicultural Council Award for Leadership in Diversity is presented to an Association member or group in recognition of their exhibited leadership and commitment to advancing programs and practices aimed toward increasing the diversity, cultural, and/or linguistic competencies in curriculum, services, supports, research and recruitment within a Center and the AUCD Network as a whole. Read more about Gilson's AUCD Multicultural Council Award here.

Lu Zeph Honored with Service to the Organization Award by Association of University Centers on Disabilities

(November 12, 2008) Lu Zeph, Ed.D., Director of the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS) and Associate Professor of Education, was honored for her six years of service (2002-2008) to the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) Board of Directors. She served as President of the AUCD Board from 2005-2006. AUCD is a membership organization comprised of three national networks of interdisciplinary, university-based Centers dedicated to research, education, leadership training, policy development, and direct service for people with disabilities.

Zeph was presented with the award by President-Elect Michael Gamel-McCormick, Ph.D., and President William Kiernan, Ph.D., (photo left to right) during the AUCD Annual Meeting and Conference in Washington, DC.

Since 1992, Zeph has served as the founding Director of CCIDS, Maine's University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. She has published and presented extensively in a number of public policy areas, including inclusive education and early intervention, community inclusion, and systemic change. In 1999, she was awarded a Kennedy Public Policy Fellowship and served as a Congressional Fellow with Senator Jim Jeffords and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. During 2000-2001, while on leave from the University of Maine, she served as Executive Director of the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation.

Photo credit: AUCD

Liz DePoy Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award by the Disability Section of the APHA

(October 28, 2008) Elizabeth DePoy, Ph.D., Professor and Coordinator of Interdisciplinary Disability Studies, Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, and Professor of Social Work, was honored with the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Disability Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA).

The award is presented to a person who, over the course of his or her career, has made a major contribution to the improvement of health and quality of life for people with disabilities in one or more areas of research, teaching, or advocacy.

James Rimmer, Ph.D., Chair of the APHA Disability Section, presented the award to DePoy (photo at left) during the 2008 APHA Annual Meeting & Exposition in San Diego, CA. Founded in 1872, the APHA is the oldest, largest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world. Read more about DePoy's Lifetime Achievement award here.

All Maine Votes Hosts Candidates’ Forum

(October 15, 2008) All Maine Votes, a nonpartisan coalition of disability advocacy organizations and individuals, administered by the Maine Disability Rights Center (DRC), hosted a public forum in Augusta for candidates seeking election to the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, and leadership positions in the Maine State Legislature. The four-hour Candidates’ Forum at St. Paul’s Center was moderated by DRC staff attorney, Kristin Aiello, Esq., and provided an opportunity for over 130 people with disabilities, and those concerned about disability issues, to ask questions and learn the candidates’ views on their issues of concern. Read more about the Candidates' Forum here.

Alan Kurtz Honored by the Autism Society of Maine

(September 20, 2008) CCIDS Research Associate, Alan Kurtz, was honored with the annual Professionals Providing Service Award by the Autism Society of Maine for his contribution to services for individuals with autism and their families in Maine. Lynda Mazzola, Vice President of the Autism Society of Maine's Board of Directors, presented the award to Kurtz during their Annual Meeting in Portland (see photo right).

Blagojevic and Thomes Investigate Digital Photography as a Learning Tool in Early Childhood Classrooms

(September 5, 2008) Bonnie Blagojevic (photo at right), research associate, Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies; and Karen Thomes, early childhood educator, Indian Island School, Indian Island, Maine; recently collaborated on an investigative article, Young Photographers, which appears in the September 2008 edition of Young Children, the journal of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Blagojevic and Thomes created the Young Photographers Project during the 2005-2006 school year to investigate if digital photography could offer young children new and unique opportunities for communication and expression, and inspire increased language use and development as children explain or tell stories about the photographs they've created.

Gilson New Chair-Elect for Disability Section of American Public Health Association

(August 22, 2008) Stephen Gilson (photo at right), professor of Interdisciplinary Disability Studies, Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies and Social Work, has been elected as Chair-Elect for the Disability Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA). The Disability Section is one of 25 primary Sections that represent major public health disciplines or public health programs. Stephen will begin his term of service as Chair-Elect during APHA's 136th Annual Meeting and Expo in San Diego, California this October. He will then assume the Chair position of the Disability Section in October 2009.

CCIDS Hosts Workshops on DIR®/Floortime™ Model for Treating Children with Autism

(August 11, 2008) The University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS) recently hosted two workshops on the DIR® (Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship-Based)/Floortime™ model for understanding and treating children challenged by autism spectrum and related disorders. This approach focuses on helping children master the building blocks of relating, communicating, and thinking. Both workshops were presented by Kathleen A. Platzman, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist and faculty member of the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders (ICDL), founded by Stanley Greenspan, M.D., and Serena Wieder, Ph.D.

Fifty professionals who serve young children with disabilities attended the 3-day workshop, Putting DIR®/Floortime™ Into Action, and will be part of an ongoing peer-coaching group that will meet regularly over the coming year. Platzman also facilitated an afternoon workshop, An Introduction to DIR®/Floortime™, for approximately sixty parents, teachers, service coordinators, and public school and early intervention personnel interested in learning more about the DIR®/Floortime™ approach.

Presentation materials and workshop photos will be posted online soon.

DePoy and Gilson Appointed as Senior Research Fellows at Ono Academic College in Israel

(August 8, 2008) Elizabeth DePoy and Stephen Gilson, professors of Interdisciplinary Disability Studies, Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies and Social Work, have been appointed as Senior Research Fellows at Ono Academic College in Kiryat-Ono, Israel.

These appointments follow their participation as faculty fellows in the June 2008 Summer Institute in Israel that linked scholars from diverse disciplines with their Israeli counterparts at major institutions for the purpose of initiating exchanges and collaborations.

 

CCIDS Research Associate Alan Kurtz Developing Curriculum for Supporting Employment for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

(June 16, 2008) CCIDS Research Associate, Alan Kurtz (photo at right), has developed a six-module training curriculum to help employment specialists learn how to develop customized supports that will lead to individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) succeeding in employment.

The curriculum, Quality Employment Practices for Supporting Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders, provides an overview of the unique characteristics, learning styles, and strengths of individuals with ASD and addresses their employment support needs in the areas of communication; social interaction; structure, routine and predictability; sensory processing difficulties; movement differences and motor planning; and assessment and job development.

Kurtz, a doctoral student and trainee at the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire, will be presenting information about the curriculum at the 19th Annual APSE conference in Louisville, KY in July.

The curriculum will be available in late fall 2008 and has been developed with support from the New England Rehabilitation Continuing Education Program with funding from the U.S. Department of Education; and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Developmental Disabilities.

For more information on the curriculum, please contact Alan Kurtz at the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies: alan.kurtz@umit.maine.edu  or 800/203-6957 (V/TTY).

CCIDS Co-Sponsors Five-County Conference to Encourage Investment in Maine Families and Children

(May 13, 2008) The Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, in collaboration with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, co-sponsored a one-day conference targeting business and community members of five Maine counties. The conference, Why The Future Matters Now: Maximizing Returns by Investing in the Families and Children of Maine, focused on issues of workplace development and retention, and the positive economic impact of quality early care and education. Work sessions, facilitated by Cooperative Extension faculty, provided participants with an opportunity to begin to strategize creative local solutions for issues facing children, families and employers in Hancock, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Waldo and Washington Counties.

Presenters and panelists included Steven Rowe, Maine Attorney General; Dr. Richard Aronson, pediatrician and former Maine Maternal Child Health Medical Director; Sheriff Glenn Ross, Penobscot County; Jim Hennigar, Project Manager for the Harold Alfond College Challenge; and Laura Harper, Director of Public Policy for the Maine Women's Lobby.

Photo caption: (L-R) Lu Zeph, CCIDS;
 Susan Mackey Andrews, Solutions Consulting Group;
and Jim Hennigar, Harold Alfond College Challenge

Interdisciplinary Disability Studies Celebration of Achievement

(April 29, 2008) Nine University of Maine undergraduates were recognized for successfully completing a 24-credit concentration in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies (IDS). The curriculum, administered through the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, and coordinated by Elizabeth DePoy, Ph.D., provides students a means to explore disability within the larger context of diversity and to examine professional practice, scholarship, and policy related to persons with disabilities.

IDS students (L to R) Jen Pickering, Michelle Newman
and Suzanne Braco viewing student presentations.

The annual event is an opportunity for IDS students to present their research projects to the university community and be recognized for their academic achievement. Graduate student Barbara Vittum (photo at right) delivered the student address: view the complete text of Vittum's remarks here. DePoy and Stephen Gilson, Ph.D., professors of Interdisciplinary Disability Studies and Social Work, supervised the students’ research and presented the concentration certificates and stoles at the April 29, 2008 celebration.

Barbara Vittum delivering student address.

CCIDS Director Invited to Serve on Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) Strategic Planning Workgroup

(April 8, 2008) CCIDS Director Lucille Zeph has been invited to serve on the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) Strategic Planning Workgroup by Dr. Thomas Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The purpose of the workgroup is to provide broad scientific expertise and to make recommendations to the IACC regarding the strategic plan for autism spectrum disorder research. Authorized under the Combating Autism Act of 2006, IACC coordinates autism spectrum disorder research and other efforts within the Department of Health and Human Services and across other federal agencies. Lu served as a member of the IACC from 2004-2007.

Gilson & DePoy Awarded Faculty Fellowships for 2008 Summer Institute in Israel

(March 24, 2008) Elizabeth DePoy and Stephen Gilson, professors of Interdisciplinary Disability Studies, Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies and Social Work, have been awarded faculty fellowships for the 2008 Summer Institute in Israel, June 16-27, 2008.

The Summer Institute is a competitive academic fellowship and seeks to link scholars from diverse disciplines with their Israeli counterparts at major institutions for the purpose of initiating exchanges and collaborations. DePoy and Gilson are among fifteen faculty selected from 200 applicants from around the United States.

Participants will meet with professionals and experts, including Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, involved in Israel’s government, industry, education, media, and other sectors to understand the facets of Israel’s evolving national and international policies. Sponsors for the Summer Institute include the following: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Bar-llan University, the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, the University of Haifa, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, the Jewish National Fund, and Media Watch International.

Mason New President-Elect of National Organization

(March 5, 2008) Craig Mason (photo at right), associate professor of education and applied quantitative methods with a joint appointment in the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, recently was elected president-elect of the National Birth Defects Prevention Network (NBDPN). 

The organization seeks to establish and maintain a national network of state and population-based programs for birth defects surveillance and research to: assess the impact of birth defects on children, families and health care; to identify factors that can be used to develop primary prevention strategies; and to assist families and their providers in secondary disabilities prevention. 

Members include health officials and researchers from across the United States. NBDPN works closely with related national organizations such as the March of Dimes and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CCIDS Honors Maine Attorney General for Public Policy Change in Inclusive Early Care and Education

(February 26, 2008) CCIDS Director Lucille Zeph recently presented the Center’s 2007 Daring to Dream Award for Public Policy Change to Maine Attorney General, the Honorable G. Steven Rowe, J.D. This award recognizes an individual or organization for vision and leadership that promotes public policy change to advance the civil rights of people with disabilities.

“Steve Rowe has actively supported the development of public policy and practice that integrates the current knowledge base in neuroscience related to early brain development into supports and services for young children and their families,” says Zeph. “He’s spent countless hours crossing the state to address various community and business leaders regarding the need for investment in high quality, accessible, and inclusive early care and education.” Rowe has served as Maine’s Attorney General since 2001.

Photo credit: William Drake, University of Maine

Blagojevic Article Appears in New NAEYC Publication

(February 19, 2008) CCIDS Research Associate Bonnie Blagojevic (photo at left) and her co-author, Pre-K teacher Anne Sprague, have published an article, The Digital Camera: A Tool for Creative Teaching, in the February 2008 issue of Teaching Young Children. The article provides preschool teachers with examples of how to use digital photos to organize the environment, support curriculum goals, document children's learning, support children who are English-language learners or those with disabilities, and strengthen family partnerships.

TYC is a brand new magazine from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the world’s largest organization for early childhood educators. The publication highlights current thinking on best practices in early childhood education, innovations in the field, research and its implications, and interesting ideas for and from preschool teachers.

Portland Early Literacy Collaborative Staff to Present at ELL Conference

(February 8, 2008) CCIDS Research Associates Bonnie Blagojevic, Sue Chevalier, and Martie Kendrick, and Early Childhood Coordinator, Linda Labas, are scheduled to present at the Early Language & Literacy – On the Horizon Conference in Augusta, ME on March 7-8, 2008. All are members of the Portland Early Literacy Collaborative (PELC).

The conference will be held at the Augusta Civic Center and is sponsored by the Portland Early Literacy Collaborative, Spirals Early Reading First Programs, U.S. Department of Education, and Child Development Services, Maine.

Smith and Passman Awarded Distance Education Grant

(February 1, 2008) Assistant Research Professor Valerie Smith (CCIDS and COEHD), and Associate Professor Tina Passman (Department of Modern Languages and Classics), were recently awarded a $1500 online course development grant as part of the UMaine Continuing Education Division and Summer Session's 11th Annual Grant Program. Their 300-level online interdisciplinary course, Foundations of Universal Design: The Ecology of Human Environments, investigates the new paradigm of human communities that addresses the diversity of all potential users. The environments considered include physical, social, educational, commercial, spiritual, and creative communities. The course will be designed using WebCT and offered in Fall 2008.

Smith and Passman are members of the Center’s Equity and Excellence in Higher Education Project and the Interdisciplinary Disability Studies Academic Committee (IDSAC). Passman is also Director of the Critical Languages Program and Acting Director of the Peace Studies Program.

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.

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