Maine UCEDD Celebrates Two Decades of Community Engagement through Education, Research and Service

December 13, 2012

Founding Director Lu Zeph (left) and CAC member Paul Picard (far right) present the Public Policy Change Award to David Noble Stockford. (Photo by Kathy Rice)

The University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (ME UCEDD) recently celebrated its 20^th year of enhancing the quality of life of Maine's citizens with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. In her anniversary celebration welcome, founding director Lucille Zeph reflected on the Center's inception as a University Affiliated Program in 1992:

Twenty-two years ago, Maine had a state institution for individuals with intellectual disabilities, including a behavior stabilization unit where restraint and seclusion were common practices; there was no organized self-advocacy organization for individuals with developmental disabilities; and practices such as positive supports, person-centered planning, self-determination, and even inclusion---were considered radical, when considered at all. . . . But then, there were the dreamers: more than 100 parents, community members, individuals with disabilities, and a wide range of professionals across disciplines, organizations and state agencies, who came together to plan the future.

Two special events were held in conjunction with the Center's celebration: a 20^th Anniversary Distinguished Lecture, "From Segregation to Self-Determination: Looking Back, Looking Ahead," by Stephen T. Murphy, Ph.D., author of Voices of Pineland: Eugenics, Social Reform, and the Legacy of "Feeblemindedness" in Maine; and special 20^th Anniversary Awards that recognized individuals whose efforts have made long-term and significant changes to enhancing the lives of individuals with disabilities in Maine in the areas of public policy change, social change, scholarship and advocacy. Looking ahead to the future, Zeph noted,

As we reflect on the past and celebrate our progress to date, we are also keenly aware of the challenges that remain. While the voices of individuals with developmental disabilities can be heard speaking for themselves in the halls of the [Maine] State Capitol and even in Washington, DC in ways that were unheard of twenty years ago, a disproportionate number of people with developmental disabilities still live in poverty, are unemployed, have limited access to post-secondary education, and face daily struggles to access transportation, engage in civic and community life, and receive adequate health care in their communities. Children with developmental disabilities are still more likely to be educated in segregated settings, and have fewer opportunities to engage in community recreational programs than their brothers and sisters and friends and neighbors. And, families of individuals with developmental disabilities continue to struggle to advocate and educate communities, professionals and policy makers regarding their needs and the needs of their family members.

So, today, as we celebrate the accomplishments of the past twenty years, we do so with a clear understanding that there is still much more to be done before our mission is achieved. However, as a UCEDD, we are reassured that the road ahead will continue to improve as we create increased numbers of future leaders who are well educated and informed. This will continue to be achieved through our increasing number of interdisciplinary educational, research, and community engagement programs. Programs that prepare community and professional leaders, self-advocates, and family members---for the tomorrow that can be realized because twenty years ago, 100 people from Maine came together to dream of a different tomorrow---and that since then thousands of people throughout Maine and beyond have been touched by the UCEDD that was created though the realization of that dream.