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Who We Are
The Maryland Disabilities Forum is a non-profit cross-disability organization led by people with disabilities that provides leadership in facilitating systems change to achieve community inclusion, civil rights and equal opportunities for people with disabilities. The Forum achieves this by connecting people with disabilities, other individuals, and organizations; providing them with the opportunity to network and engage in public forums to increase awareness among people with disabilities; and enhancing their participation in the policy setting and implementation process by providing a wide spectrum of information.
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Vision
The Maryland Disabilities Forum has a vision of uniting people across disabilities, and allowing their voices to become prominent and powerful expressions in key public decisions affecting Maryland citizens with disabilities. With this vision in mind, individuals with disabilities will help create a society in which full equality and empowerment is an inherent way of life.
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A New Approach to Advocacy
For most of this century advocacy groups actually run by persons with disabilities were quite rare. Public policies and private attitudes conspired to isolate and marginalize individuals with disabilities. Laws in most states authorized the indefinite confinement of citizens with a variety of disabilities. Consequently, the disability organizations which rose to prominence after World War II embraced the so-called "medical model" which emphasized medical research and cure rather than accommodation and acceptance. Most organizations represented a single disability group and viewed advocacy in narrow terms; these policies contributed to the disability community's fragmentation and relative powerlessness.
In 1994, Joel David Myerberg and a number of activists with disabilities formed the Maryland Disabilities Forum (MDF). MDF has since continued to successfully produce statewide systems change in order to achieve community inclusion, civil rights and equal opportunity for people with disabilities.
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Getting Involved
Learn more about the Maryland Disabilities Forum and what we stand for by exploring our site. If you are interested in becoming a member please follow fill out the membership information and email it in to us. We will keep you up to date on our approaching Gubernatorial Forum for the 2010 election.
If you are interested in connecting with members of the Forum and discussing the overarching principles that drive self advocacy, as well as relevant issues affecting individuals with disabilities in the State of Maryland, then please join us on Facebook.
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Maryland Disabilities Forum
10270 Old Columbia Road, Suite 100
Columbia, MD 21046
Phone: 443-539-0178 Fax: 443-539-0179
Email: Info@mddforum.org
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