Reading a social story with Ann Dillon '75, '98G. Photo byKindra Clineff

During Dillon's first visits with the Macks, she listened, asked questions and played with Rosie. Whatever game Rosie wanted to play, Dillon would play too, but with a twist. If Rosie wanted to line blocks along the edge of the table, ever so precisely, Dillon would demonstrate how blocks can be stacked on top of each other. If Rosie wanted to play alone, Dillon would show how people can play together.

Within a few weeks, Dillon scheduled a meeting at the Macks' house. Kathy Mack, her parents, Dillon and Patti Cotton, a facilitator from the institute, sat around the dining room table. The goal, Dillon explained, was to develop a plan for Rosie's future, with Kathy and Rosie in charge of its destination. "Rings Around Rosie," Dillon called it, the rings symbolizing the love and support surrounding Rosie. And for the first step, Kathy wanted Rosie to attend a regular preschool, not a special education school.

What the institute does, essentially, is "see a problem, suggest a solution, develop it, test it and tell people about it," says Nisbet. Part of this gets done in an academic environment, in classrooms, clinics, pilot programs and workshops, and part gets done in the offices of state officials and politicians, in the statehouse and, increasingly, in Congress. That's because in many cases, problems cannot be addressed unless the underlying laws and regulations are changed.

An early example is family support legislation, passed in 1989. While the move to community-based services had in many cases saved the state money, caring for a family member with a disability at home created additional stress and new expenses. The legislation provided funds for respite care, transportation and medical supplies. Another example is employment reform, which seeks to remove barriers that prevent people with disabilities from getting a job. Among those working for these kinds of reform are graduates of the New Hampshire Leadership Series, a training program run by the institute for people with disabilities and family members. More than 350 people have taken the series since 1988.

It may seem odd that Shumway, as one of the officials who is pressured to change policies, is very pleased at how good the institute has become at advocating change. But it's what the state needed, he says. Service providers like his department are under constant political pressure to cut costs. "The institute is very helpful in keeping everyone focused on serving people's needs," he says. Furthermore, he's impressed with Nisbet's ability to move successfully between academia and the state. "It's an unusual combination, and Jan does it particularly well," he says. In other states where academics try to influence public policy, he notes, "they're literally not on speaking terms."