Quick Links
Autism Society
The Autism Society of Maine is an affilliate of the Autism Society, a non-profit organization which advocates services for individuals with Autism Nationwide. Call Center: 1-800-328-8476
Advocacy & Legal Rights
Disability Rights Maine (DRM): DRM provides individuals with information about their rights and service systems, and represents individuals at meetings and hearings by providing legal services to individuals and groups.
Developmental Disabilities Council (DDC): DDC helps ensure that individuals with developmental disabilities and their families participate in the design of, and have access to needed community services, individualized supports, and other forms of assistance.
Pine Tree Legal: Provides free civil legal said to Maine people with low incomes.
Wrights Law: Information about special education law, education law, and advocacy for children with disabilities.
Assistive Technology / Communications
Pine Tree Society Speech/Language and Assistive Technology Services: Speech/Language and Assistive Technology Services provide a full range of speech, language and assistive technology services for children and adults with disabilities to support communication, learning and employment.
Spurwink ALLTECH: Technical assistance to support the development of knowledge and skills for individuals who have disabilities, their families and educators, service providers, employers and health/disability-related agencies.
Maine CITE: The Maine Department of Education’s Maine CITE is designed to help make assistive and universally designed technology more available to Maine children and adults who have disabilities.
University of Maine at Farmington, Center for Assistive Technology: The Center for Assistive Technology provides information about assistive technology (AT), how to use and evaluate various AT devices, and a place to view AT equipment. The center is available free to individuals with disabilities and their families, UMF students, faculty, professionals in the community.
Community Inclusion
Center for Community & Disability Studies (CCIDS): CCIDS brings together the resources of the university and Maine communities to enhance the quality of life for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.
Maine Access to Inclusive Education Resources (MAIER): MAIER serves as an information and resource clearinghouse for professionals and families to assist in accessing and navigating programs and services related to inclusive education of students with disabilities.
Maine Parent Federation
Department of Education (DOE)
DOE Office Of Special Services & Inclusive Education: Directory of Maine Department of Education Special Services & Inclusive Education.
Laws & Regulations: Chapter 101; Maine Unified Special Education Regulation Birth to Age Twenty (MUSER), Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
A Guide to Special Education in Maine: Maine Parent Federation has developed this booklet as a resource to help explain the process of special education.
Chapter 33 Laws in Maine: The rule governing physical restraint and seclusion in Maine schools.
Maine Administrators of Services for Children with Disabilities (MADSEC): Represents special education in Maine and provides support for educators and a resource for Maine schools and agencies.
Child Development Services (CDS): The Child Development Services (CDS) system is an Intermediate Educational Unit that provides both Early Intervention (birth – two years) and Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE for ages three – five years) under the supervision of the Maine Department of Education.
Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS)
Children’s Behavioral Health: Case Management, Home & Community Based Treatment Services, Rights/Grievances, Service Provider List, Special Education regulations for parents & Privacy Policy.
MaineCare Information: Information regarding MaineCare and how it relates to individuals with Autism, their families and caregivers.
MaineCare Eligibility: How to apply, cost, getting an application and help with filling out application.
Katie Beckett: A MaineCare option for children with serious health conditions. It is one of the many ways your child can get MaineCare. If your child meets the rules for this option, your child can get MaineCare full benefits. Respite Services:
Respite Care: NAMI Maine Family Respite exists to assist families by enabling a much needed break in the responsibility of caring for a child with significant developmental delays, and behavioral or emotional disorders.
Developmental Services – Adults: Adult Protection Services, Behavioral Regulations, Case Management, Crisis Services, Community Inclusion & Supported Employment, MaineCare Waiver Services, Person-Centered Planning, Provider Directory, Shared living Model, Training Information, Supports Intensity Scale.
Guardianship and Alternatives: Information for anyone seeking information on adult guardianship, conservatorship, or alternatives to guardianship.
Family Alliance of Family Organizations (MAFO)
MAFO: A statewide alliance that formed to better serve families of children with disabilities and special health care needs, and to strengthen family voice.
Adoptive & Foster Families of Maine, Inc. (AFFM): Provides statewide support services for adoptive and foster parents, and kinship families.
Autism Society of Maine (ASM): Provides lifelong access and opportunity for all individuals on the Autism spectrum to become participating members of their communities.
G.E.A.R Parent Network: Empowers parents/caregivers of children with behavioral health family needs to build on family strength, promote hope and self reliance and advocate for family family’s needs.
Maine Parent Federation (MPF): Offers support to parents of individuals with disabilities through each of its projects.
NAMI Maine: Dedicated to building better lives for the one in four Mainers affected by mental illness.
Housing
Maine State Housing Authority: MaineHousing offers programs and services that make housing more affordable to Maine people
HUD in Maine: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Homes & Community website.
Specialized Housing, Inc/20 E Street: Providers of support at 20 E Street, South Portland, a home ownership program for adults with developmental disabilities.
Community Housing of Maine (CHOM): is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that as its core mission provides advocacy, supportive housing, community inclusion, and stability for homeless and special needs populations across the state. CHOM also provides workforce housing for people who can’t afford to live near their work.
Achieving Independence in Maine (AIM): Port Resources’ AIM transitional housing program is for young adults on the Autism Spectrum who are in their developmental “launching” years.
Home Buying Help Guide for the Disabled: This guide has been created to help individuals living with disabilities, and their family members, in the process of buying a home of their own.
Alternative Therapies
Music Therapy
Music Therapy Resource: This website provides information about the field of music therapy and lists the music therapists in the state of Maine and the areas they serve.
Service Dogs
NEADS, National Education for Assistance Dog Services: is a non-profit organization established in 1976. Social dogs serve as assistants and companions to children ages 6 and up who are on the Autism spectrum or have another disability.
Telling Tales Training Center: Fryeburg, ME. Positive training techniques that will enhance the dog and human relationship
Weighted Blankets and Sensory Items
New England Adaptive Equipment: Providing items that give sensory input that causes a calming sensation for the individual to sleep or relax. Etna, ME