Parent Centers
Family members are often the first to realize that a student with a disability is having difficulty using or learning from classroom materials. As a result, parents and caregivers play a vital role in ensuring their children with disabilities are provided accessible educational materials (AEM) by schools. Two stories on the NCADEMI Access Point Blog personify the experiences of parents striving to support their children who need AEM: Family Discusses Need for Timely Access to Materials and Why Accessible Assessments Matter: Jack’s Story.
Resources for Parents & Caregivers
NCADEMI is here to help parents and caregivers understand AEM, identify if their child needs AEM because of a disability, and communicate that need to their child’s school.
- A Parent’s Guide to Getting Started with AEM provides examples and reasons a child with a disability might need AEM. Parents and caregivers will also benefit from the guide’s overview of how special education law applies to a child’s need for AEM. Finally, specific steps for beginning the process of getting AEM for a child are outlined for parents and caregivers.
- Fast Facts for Parents & Caregivers lists ten short but essential messages that clarify the legal and practical importance of AEM.
Parents and caregivers with questions about AEM are encouraged to contact NCADEMI.
Technical Assistance for Parent Centers
Parent Centers are a critical resource for families of children and youth with disabilities, including those who need AEM. During the first half of 2025, NCADEMI collected input from Parent Center representatives about their technical assistance needs. The report, Technical Assistance Needs of Parent Centers: Summary of 2025 Data Collection, summarizes key findings and insights.
Based on the data collection findings, NCADEMI offers a series of technical assistance activities and resources for Parent Centers.
Families in Focus: AEM Tips for Parent Centers
AEM Tips for Parent Centers are thirty-minute monthly information sessions highlighting resources and strategies for families of children who need AEM. For example, what are the signs that a child needs AEM? How are AEM different from assistive technology (AT)? How can parents share their concerns with teachers? What kinds of AEM are available? How does AEM relate to a child’s IEP? AEM Tips are every third Tuesday of the month, 2:00 – 2:30 p.m. ET.
Early AEM ECHO Community
In recognition of the crucial role that families play during the early development of children with disabilities, NCADEMI partners with Project ECHO to lead an “Early Accessible Educational Material (AEM) ECHO” community. Project ECHO is an “all teach, all learn” learning model. ECHO participants engage in a virtual community with their peers where they share support, guidance, and feedback.
Together, we explore how we can better support parents and caregivers of infants and toddlers with disabilities for the transition to early childhood education, specifically the use of learning materials (books, manipulatives, props, mobile apps, etc). The Early AEM ECHO builds the capacity of Parent Center staff, Part C Lead Agency staff, and early intervention service providers. An area of focus for this ECHO community is best practices for including assistive technology (AT) and AEM considerations in the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) to the Individualized Education Program (IEP) transition process.
Early AEM ECHO sessions are open to all individuals who serve young children with disabilities in early development and their families. Certificates of attendance are available to participants who attend individual sessions and complete the post-session survey.
Join Early AEM ECHO sessions on the fourth Tuesday of every month, 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. ET.