ORONO – “YouthSpeak: Raising Our Voices, Influencing Change,” a curriculum designed to be used by youths with special health care needs, has been developed and piloted by more than 100 youth from throughout Maine during the last two years.

The five modules of the curriculum are intended to help these youths present information about their needs, dreams and desires.

The modules, “What We Want Our Teachers-Employers-Health Care Providers-Parents-Policy Makers to Know,” share information and strategies from the voices of youth that have had a profound effect on audiences across the state and regionally.

These youths share messages such as “We want to be involved in decisions that affect our lives,” and “We need our teachers to have high expectations for us so we can have high aspirations for ourselves.”

YouthSpeak was developed as a component of the Maine Adolescent Transition Partnership and the Maine Works for Youth! initiatives, both collaborative efforts of the Maine Department of Human Services, Bureau of Health, Children with Special Health Needs Program and the University of Maine’s Center for Community Inclusion.

Funding also was provided by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Project staff at the university have worked closely with the Committee on Transition and the Maine Transition Network’s six regional boards to design and distribute YouthSpeak and to conduct youth leadership training across the state for the last three years.

To schedule a YouthSpeak presentation or to request a copy of the YouthSpeak CD for a nominal cost, contact Janet May at 581-1383 or Bonnie Robinson at 581-1384. For information on the project’s regional efforts, call (800) 328-9549.

Additional information also is available from Debbie Gilmer, associate director of the University of Maine’s Center for Community Inclusion, at 581-1263 or by e-mail debbie.gilmer@umit.maine.edu.