Reading Rockets Guide for Accessible Textbooks Targets Children with Learning Disabilities

February 19, 2008

The reauthorization of IDEA in December, 2004, created the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS). The National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC), provides a nationwide repository for accessible versions of textbooks and related products. These accessible versions are to be made available to qualifying students with print disabilities. School systems are responsible for accessing the NIMAC; parent can not receive files directly. However, parents often have to take the initiative to inform their child’s school system of this type of resource.

Reading Rockets, an educational initiative funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education, provides information and resources on how young children learn to read, why many of them struggle, and how adults can help. In Accessible Textbooks: A Guide for Parents of Children with Learning Disabilities, Reading Rockets assists parents and guardians with obtaining accessible textbooks for children.

As the parent of a student with learning disabilities, you want to do all that you can to enable your child to learn in school. In some cases, you need to be sure that teachers and school staff understand that the printed materials they rely on—textbooks—may be inappropriate for your child’s use. Even if your child’s reading level isn’t as high as his or her classmates, they nevertheless need to understand the material that the other students are learning.

How can they do it? By using materials that work for them—materials that allow them to hear text spoken out loud, displayed in custom color combinations, in different fonts, in larger sizes, or in any of these combinations. This flexibility is a key factor in moving schools towards universal design for learning—learning environments that are designed to meet the needs of all students—including students with learning disabilities.

The Guide recommends computer programs that enable students to hear text. The Guide also identifies sources for accessible text and offers some suggestions for working through the school system to obtain them.

Reading Rockets : Accessible Textbooks: A Guide for Parents of Children with Learning Disabilities