Who are AIM for? Identifying students

For students with sensory, physical, cognitive, or learning differences and their teachers, accessible instructional materials open doors to teaching and learning that ordinary print-based materials have closed.

In the United States, more than 500,000 students are identified as having print disabilities, but the actual number of those impacted may be much higher. The Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study [1] (Blackorby, et al., 2007) demonstrates that "print disabilities" impact students in nearly all disability categories.

Who are the Students?

IDEA 2004 identifies 13 disability categories (Title I / A / 602): [2]

(3) Child with a disability.—

(A) In general.—The term ‘child with a disability' means a child—

(i) with mental retardation, hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), serious emotional disturbance (referred to in this title as ‘emotional disturbance'), orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning disabilities; and

(ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.

In addition, a student with a disability who is not eligible for special education services may nevertheless qualify for specialized-format materials under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

In practice, any of the above-referenced disabling conditions may result in a student requiring specialized-format versions (Braille, audio, e-text, large print) of print instructional materials.

Who Decides?

For students in need of Special Education services, an IEP team is responsible for determining a student’s educational supports and services. For more detail about a recommended procedure, see Accessible Instructional Materials and the IEP. [3]

For students receiving accommodations under a Section 504 Plan [4], the school's 504 compliance officer assumes responsibility for determining the type of specialized formats required and how those materials will be acquired and by whom.