CDR-CT can help young people with disabilities to prepare for transitioning into their futures as adults. We provide mentoring and also can help explore options for ABLE Accounts and Trusts that will help them in the future.

As of 2025, CDR-CT joined the CT BRIDGES project. BRIDGES is a pilot project funded by the Federal Administration on Community Living of HHS and administered through the Connecticut Aging and Disability Services or ADS. Our University Affiliate facilitator is the University of Maryland. All five of Connecticut’s Centers for Independent Living are partners. the Connecticut Parent Advocacy Center and select school districts are also partners. So far, CDR-CT has been linked with the Region 4 school district which covers Deep River, Essex,and Chester.

We provide classroom learning, hands-on field experiences, and summer camps so that young people with disabilities can explore their own path toward independence and adulthood.

Background:

CDR is an organization of people with disabilities who advocate for and provide services to people with disabilities. In 2006, the first annual “Wheel-A-Thon” fundraiser was established to raise funds to create and sustain our youth transition activities.

Design:

Our youth programs, like our adult programs, are designed by people with disabilities for people with disabilities. We are the only peer to peer youth program in Connecticut. We aim, through the peer support and advocacy approach grounded in the Independent Living philosophy, to promote self-help and self-reliance and to enhance the self-advocacy skills and empowerment of young people with disabilities.

“Summer camp was fun, and I learned so much. It was the first time in my life that I felt like my life could be about what I want, and not what someone else wants for me.”

Strategy:

In all of our programs and activities for young people with adults, Center for Disability Rights uses a peer approach. We are people with disabilities, too, and many of us grew up with our disabilities. So we are uniquely positioned to relate to young people with disabilities.

Our approach is cross-disability. We are people who have a wide range of disabilities: physical, communicative, cognitive, and emotional. Some of us have multiple disabilities. Our youth programs are open to young folks with any type of disability as long as they can benefit from the activities.

Find Out More:
Call us at 203-934-7077 or e-mail info@cdr-ct.org

Visit our websites
www.cdr-ct.org and wheel-a-thon.org

or come on down to our West Haven or Clinton Offices.

Applications for Camp come out in February. (There will be no Summer Camps in 2026).