INTRODUCTION BY KATHY POWERS

As director of Maine CITE since 1989, I have had the privilege of working with both small and large organizations to promote the use and understanding of assistive technology throughout the State of Maine. We have had some successes. The University of Maine at Farmington's (UMF) Assistive Technology Resource Center is one.

This pamphlet provides an overview of how the Center evolved from its inception in 1984 as a faculty-sponsored software preview center in the back of a computer lab to its current status as an assistive technology loan and demonstration service with nearly 1,000 items in its collection and a nationally recognized Web page.

Since 1864, UMF leaders, professors and students have supported high-quality education practices throughout the state. During the past decade, with the introduction of assistive technology and universal design principles, Maine's spectrum of diversified curriculum has been strengthened to provide educational opportunities for all learners.

In these pages, you will be introduced to several early collaborators who attracted federal funds to Maine. Created from a partnership of the Maine Department of Education, the University of Maine System, and Alpha One, Maine CITE supports the vision of Maine as a place where all people with disabilities have ready access to the technology they need to live fully and independently. We achieve that vision by providing resources to partners such as UMF.

The unique strategy of strengthening already-existing networks and organizations won Maine a place among the first nine states to receive funding. This rural state is a model for distribution of assistive technology and services.

You, too, will be impressed with the comments of UMF's future teachers who staff the Assistive Technology Resource Center. Their determination to accommodate all learning styles testifies to their love for children and their expertise in designing curriculum incorporating assistive technology. Sean Allaire, Jamie Beam, and Jennifer Merrill assure us that the entire UMF faculty and student body share their enthusiasm for assistive technology and principles of universal design. Their insights along with those of Brian Binette and others interviewed demonstrate one of Maine's most important assets: Our People.

In the future, we can proudly embrace Farmington's recently approved building program to establish a New Education Center where assistive technology will be showcased in state-of-the-art classrooms. The welcoming accessible facility will become a field trip destination for Maine's educators, parents and students with special needs.

And, if you're wondering where we got the pamphlet title: It was a comment from an impressed grant reviewer after reading Maine's highly rated proposal --"Who ARE these people?"