• Local Chapters
• Advocacy
• Public Policy
• Autism Waiver
• Education
• Community Resources
• Events
• Autism Source

Local Chapters

Autism Society chapters are your best source of information and support. Most chapters are volunteer-led by parents, care providers and other professionals. The Autism Society has chapters in nearly every state reaching out to individuals with autism and their families with information, support, and encouragement.

Contact a Maine Autism Society chapter.

Visit Autism Source to find local doctors, service providers and other useful resources in your area.

Advocacy

Disability Rights Center

Help ME Law

We provide legal information for low-income people in the state of Maine. This includes easy-to-read self-help information on topics such as divorce and tenants' rights, Medicaid and food stamps, as well as information about free and low-cost legal services in Maine.

*Please note that in the context of Special Education Law, an "advocate" differs from an attorney in several ways. By definition, an "advocate" is one that supports or promotes the interests of another while an "attorney" is a practitioner in a court of law who is legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court on behalf of his or her clients. Although both may be able to help with your legal situation, under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) only attorney's fees are recoverable to families prevailing in lawsuits. This delineation was the outcome of the Supreme Court's decision in Arlington Central School District Board of Education v. Murphy, 548 U.S. 291 (2006). There is currently legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would reverse this outcome (the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act, HR 434).

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2008 State Autism Profiles - Maine

Maine Equal Justice Partners

We work in the legislature, before administrative agencies and in the courts, providing legal and policy analysis to give low-income people in Maine an effective voice on issues they care about.

Maine Developmental Disabilities Council

The Maine Developmental Disabilities Council (MDDC) is a partnership of people with disabilities, their families and agencies that identifies barriers to community inclusion, self-determination and independence, and acts to effect positive change.


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Autism Waiver

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Education

Department of Education for the State


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Community Resources

Alpha One

Alpha One's variety and depth of independent living services include: information and referral, outreach, advocacy, one-to-one and group peer support, consumer-directed personal assistance services, assistive technology financing, access design and independent living skills instruction.

The Cromwell Center

The Cromwell Center for Disabilities Awareness is a non-profit and federally tax-exempt organization founded on the premise that people with all types of disabilities--learning, behavioral and emotional, developmental and physical--deserve the same dignity, inclusion and respect that every person deserves as a birthright. The Center fulfills this mission through programs that (1) promote and foster sensitivity, understanding and recognition of the value of children and adults with disabilities; and (2) provide publicly available educational and informational resources for parents, educators, peers and siblings of children with disabilities.

STRIVE U

STRIVE U provides postsecondary education and training to young adults with developmental disabilities in the realms of residential, employment and community skills, with the goal of enabling its graduates to live and work as full community members with maximum independence and productivity.


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Autism Source

To find more information in your state, please visit www.autismsource.org.

The Autism Society welcomes your comments: If you would like to make a suggestion or share beneficial resources not included in this page, please click here to fill out our contact form.

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Last updated: 22 January 2009