Joel Spadinger is a young man of few words. He has been interviewed by newspapers and television stations, which he thinks is “cool,” and recently represented Maine at a national conference in Washington, D.C., but when asked about these things he just shrugs. Maybe, he said, it’s because “I like to help other people.”

The Cape Elizabeth student was awarded an honorary diploma last spring and is currently completing some of his coursework in his post-graduate year at the high school. Next year he plans to attend STRIVE U, a one-of-a-kind program that allows students with developmental disabilities to live and work on their own while attending classes at the University of Southern Maine.

Spadinger was born with Down syndrome, but didn’t allow the developmental disability to limit his participation in school or extracurricular activities. He has been an avid competitor in the Special Olympics and member of the high school’s swim team, and has been involved with the STRIVE program in South Portland for a long time. He is currently the president of the STRIVE Advisory Board and works at Amato’s sandwich shop on St. John Street in Portland.

An article written about Spadinger in a major newspaper on June 19 caught the eye of the executive director of the Maine Developmental Disabilities Council. Andrew Roth-Wells, public education and communication coordinator of the council, said Spadinger was an “active, outspoken, fantastic individual.”

He said Spadinger would be a great addition to the team from Maine that was heading down to Washington for the first-ever Alliance for Full Participation’s 2005 Summit. The goal of the conference was to raise awareness for developmental disabilities and encourage full participation by people with developmental disabilities in their communities. Spadinger also took the time to visit U.S. Rep. Tom Allen in his office while he was in Washington. Last summer Spadinger worked in Allen’s Portland office.

Elizabeth Mylroie, Spadinger’s special education teacher at Cape Elizabeth High School, said Spadinger already has a strong interest in the issues addressed at the conference and is already very involved in his community. Mylroie, who accompanied Spadinger and his older sister to Washington for the conference, said the event was “overwhelming.”

“It was reassuring, encouraging and rewarding to see so many people come out for a cause,” Mylroie said. About 2,400 people attended the conference.

Roth-Wells said Spadinger was a good representative from Maine because he was clearly very involved with his community and “was already willing and able to speak up for himself about what he wants from life.”

About 70 people traveled to the conference from Maine, including about 30 or 40 “self advocates” – which Roth-Wells said are people with developmental disabilities who are their own advocates for full participation – and family members, support staff, providers of services and other advocates such as Roth-Wells himself.