For Other Professionals
Recommended links
Learning disabilities
Clicking on a link below will take you to the organization's web site.
Bookshare, the world's largest accessible digital library for people with print and learning disabilities (such as dyslexia), provides free membership to qualified U.S. schools and students, thanks to an award from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education. Get access to more than 43,000 digital books, textbooks and teacher-recommended readings to help your child succeed and enjoy reading independently.
CAST: National Center on Universal Design for Learning
CAST is a nonprofit research and development organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals, especially those with disabilities, through Universal Design for Learning. Founded in 1984 as the Center for Applied Special Technology, CAST has earned international recognition for its innovative contributions to educational products, classroom practices, and policies. Its staff includes specialists in education research and policy, neuropsychology, clinical/school psychology, technology, engineering, curriculum development, K-12 professional development, and more.
Center for Implementing Technology in Education
CITEd supports leadership at state and local education agencies to integrate instructional technology for all students to achieve high educational standards. CITEd provides this support through identification of best practices, innovative online technical assistance tools, professional development, and communities of practice.
Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) is the nation's leading non-profit organization serving individuals with AD/HD and their families. CHADD has over 16,000 members in 200 local chapters throughout the U.S. Chapters offer support for individuals, parents, teachers, professionals, and others.
CONNECT: The Center to Mobilize Early Childhood Knowledge
CONNECT is developing web-based, instructional resources for faculty and other professional development providers that focus on and respond to challenges faced each day by those working with young children with disabilities and their families. The modules help build practitioners’ abilities to make evidence-based decisions.
Disability.gov has resources for students with disabilities, their parents, and teachers. You'll find information about teaching strategies, using assistive technologies in the classroom, and preparing for college, financial aid, and scholarships. Resources for parents include tips for more effective Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings and helping your child make the transition from school to work. You can also look for resources in your state.
International Dyslexia Association
The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) is an international organization that concerns itself with the complex issues of dyslexia. The IDA membership consists of a variety of professionals in partnership with people with dyslexia and their families. The IDA actively promotes effective teaching approaches and related clinical educational intervention strategies for people with dyslexia. We support and encourage interdisciplinary research. We facilitate the exploration of the causes and early identification of dyslexia and are committed to the responsible and wide dissemination of research based knowledge.
IRIS Center for Training Enhancements
The IRIS Center creates free training enhancement resources for college faculty who are preparing the next generation of school personnel and for professional development providers who are training current school professionals. IRIS training enhancements are designed to equip school personnel with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively teach students with disabilities in general education classrooms. Materials includes online interactive modules, case studies, information briefs, activities, and a searchable directory of disability-related websites.
Founded in 1948 as Recording for the Blind, Learning Ally serves more than 300,000 K-12, college and graduate students, veterans and lifelong learners — all of whom cannot read standard print due to blindness, visual impairment, dyslexia, or other learning disabilities. Learning Ally's collection of more than 65,000 digitally recorded textbooks and literature titles — downloadable and accessible on mainstream as well as specialized assistive technology devices — is the largest of its kind in the world.
The PBS documentary Misunderstood Minds shines a spotlight on learning differences and disabilities. Produced and directed by renowned Frontline filmmaker Michael Kirk, this 90-minute special shows the children's problems in a new light, and serves as a platform to open a nationwide dialogue on how best to manage young, vulnerable, and misunderstood minds.
National Center for Learning Disabilities
The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) works to ensure that the nation's 15 million children, adolescents, and adults with learning disabilities have every opportunity to succeed in school, work, and life. NCLD provides essential information to parents, professionals and individuals with learning disabilities, promotes research and programs to foster effective learning, and advocates for policies to protect and strengthen educational rights and opportunities.
National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)
NICHCY is the center that provides information to the nation on: disabilities in children and youth; programs and services for infants, children, and youth with disabilities; IDEA, the nation's special education law; and research-based information on effective practices for children with disabilities. The focus is children and youth (birth to age 22). Anyone can use the free services — families, educators, administrators, journalists, students.
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) at The Library of Congress
Find audio, braille, and print/braille books for preschool through grade 8 in the NLS catalog. Materials are circulated to eligible borrowers in the U.S. through a national network of cooperating libraries.
National Parent Technical Assistance Center
The Technical Assistance ALLIANCE for Parent Centers (the ALLIANCE) is an innovative partnership of one national and six regional parent technical assistance centers, each funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). These seven projects comprise a unified technical assistance system for the purpose of developing, assisting, and coordinating the over 100 Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs) and Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRCs) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Reading ASSIST® Institute (RAI), a nonprofit organization, helps children with reading disabilities unlock the written word by training tutors and teachers in a phonetic-based, multisensory structured language (MSL) reading curriculum inspired by the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction.
