Initially Adult Disability programs were created to provide services for people with disabilities to have access to Community Education classes. But programs moved toward customizing classes specifically for people with certain disabilities. An example of this would be the bowling classes that are popular with people who have developmental disabilities. Some Adult Disability programs have gone so far with this, that when I picked up a metro area Community Education catalog recently, I saw listings of "Classes for Adults with a Developmental Disability," and a separate listing of "Classes for Adults with a Physical Disability." This is very different from what I learned from working with Project COMPASS for 2 years. Helen is one of the few coordinators who heavily promote inclusion in Community Education. She has taught me to believe in inclusion, too.

In working with Project COMPASS, I kept Helen's philosophy in mind – "Everyone deserves the chance to succeed." I listened to participants' suggestions of what kind of classes they wanted to have, and the main product of this was a theatre class for people with and without disabilities, which led to a major production of "Oliver!" with an inclusive cast. Many of the people I knew in the play had always wanted to act, but had never been given the chance. It was truly awesome to see their talents revealed.

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