September/October 2013

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AIM Webinar

AIM Basics 2013 Webinar Offering - October 3rd

Easy and Free Introduction to AIM for Educators and Families

DATE: Thursday, October 3, 2013
TIME: 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. EDT

TOPIC: This webinar provides educators and families with current basic information about the provision of accessible instructional materials. Topics in this introductory webinar include legal issues, a decision-making process, and how to locate and use supporting resources. Participation in this webinar is suggested as a prerequisite for other webinars.
PARTICIPANTS: All with interests and/or responsibilities related to AIM
PRESENTER(S): Joy Zabala

Register for October 3rd Webinar

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Audio-Supported Reading

Listening and Reading

A Multi-Sensory Approach to Reading: Two New Resources

Kudos to the AIM Center's Dr. Richard Jackson for his recent paper, available on the AIM Center web site, "Audio-Supported Reading for Students Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired." He makes a powerful case urging educators to teach students critical literacy skills using the latest technologies as part of an integrated, multi-sensory approach. Dr. Jackson, who is visually impaired, improved his reading rate from 175 wpm to as much as 400 wpm through audio-supported reading. Read Dr. Jackson's paper.

Kudos too to Scholastic Parents for their recent article, "Free Audio Books and Why You Should Try Them." The article describes the benefits of a multi-sensory approach to reading along with a listing of websites for downloading free audio books to use alone or in conjunction with digital or print text. We think it's an excellent resource to share with educators, teachers and parents and we've incorporated the listing into the AIM Center's resources on accessible media. Access the AIM Center list of free audio book sites.

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Press Release

Story Share - A Writing Contest

Expanding the Number of Accessible Books for Teen and Adult Beginning Readers

CAST--home of the AIM Center--is partnering with Benetech, NCLD, and the Poses Foundation to promote the Story Share $50K writing contest.

The goal of the contest is to expand the body of accessible reading material available for teen and adult beginning readers. We hope to inspire writers and educators to author and submit topical, contemporary stories for teen and adult struggling readers ages 13+. Cash prizes are offered and stories will be posted in a new supportive online publishing platform created for the contest to increase engagement for writers and readers alike.

The contest will begin in mid-October. We encourage you to share information about the contest with your colleagues. For more information, read the press release or visit the Story Share Facebook site and Story Share web site.

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Joint Statement
to FCC

Joining Forces to Ensure E-Readers are Accessible

Joint Statement to Federal Communications Commission

In August, a group of e-reader manufacturers, including Amazon and Sony, filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to request that e-readers such as Kindles be exempt from certain accessibility provisions of the 2010 Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act.

On September 5, the National Federation of the Blind, along with 22 other organizations, including CAST (home of the AIM Center), submitted a joint statement to the FCC, opposing the petition. Access the statement.

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Recent Additions & Updates to the AIM Center Web Site

Updated: Fifty-state scan of SEA web sites for AIM/NIMAS information

Table showing all 50 states
AIM in Your State - (Individual state updates)

Updated: Primary state contacts for NIMAS

New: Social media "share buttons" added (Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, Share) to AIM web pages. Now, you can more easily share your favorite AIM resources with colleagues!

AIM Center on the Road:

Upcoming Fall Conference Presentations

Fall starts a busy conference time for the AIM Center! We'll be at Tools for Schools in Hartford, CT; Getting in Touch with Literacy Conference in Providence, RI; Closing the Gap in Minneapolis, MN; PATINS in Indianapolis, IN; OCALI in Columbus, OH, and at ATIA in Orlando, FL. Find details at AIM Conferences.

If you're in any of these places, don't be shy! Come say hello. We look forward to catching up with you in person and hearing about what's working and what we can do to help you move forward with AIM. We're always here for you at aim.cast.org

With warm regards,

- Joy

Joy Zabala

Director of Technical Assistance

AIM Center and CAST

Visit our other sites to learn more about CAST and Universal Design for Learning