PUBLISHERS OF K-12 MATERIALS WITH CHARACTERS WITH DISABILITIES
Autism of North Carolina Bookstore
<www.autismbookstore.com>
This online bookstore provides many different kinds of resources, including a wide variety of children's books about autism. The website provides a list of available children's books grouped by topics such as assessment, healthy living, grief and loss, and sibling issues. Books sold include fiction and nonfiction titles.
BEM Publishers
<www.bempub.com>
Basic Educational Materials offers instructional materials to educators, parents, and homeschoolers in the areas of academics, employment, and life skills. BEM Publishers mainly publishes workbooks for students and adult learners in these areas.
Butte Publications
<www.buttepublications.com>
Butte publishes educational materials for students who have a hearing impairment. Materials are directed at the students themselves, their educators, other professionals with whom the students come into contact, and their families. The company also produces signed stories on DVD.
Jason and Nordic Publishers
<http://jasonandnordic.com>
Jason and Nordic publishes children's books about characters with specific disabilities. Disabilities covered include autism, blindness, cerebral palsy, deafness, Down syndrome, and others. Also offered are books about adaptive sports and adaptive play.
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
<www.jkp.com>
The focus of Jessica Kingsley Publishers is on works for adults, educators, and professionals--mainly about autism and Asperger's syndrome. Books about art therapy, social work, and education are also available.
RET Center Press
<www.relctrpress.com>
RET Center Press publishes materials intended to help parents, teachers, and students to better understand learning disabilities and develop strategies for learning, as well as to help parents help their children who have learning disabilities. Products also include fiction and nonfiction books for children and young adults.
Star Bright Books
<www.starbrightbooks.org>
Star Bright Books, an independent publishing company, produces a wide variety of books for all children. The books in the special section for social and emotional learning would be very beneficial for children with special needs or disabilities.
Woodbine House
<www.woodbinehouse.com>
Behind Woodbine House is a group of colleagues who work together to publish books for parents, teachers, and professionals on a variety of disabilities. In addition to the nonfiction aimed at adults, the site offers a great variety of children's and YA fiction and nonfiction.
PUBLISHERS OF EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT MATERIALS
Academic Communication Associates (ACA)
<www.acadcom.com>
ACA publishes assessment tools, instructional resources (including games, software, teacher guides, and children's books for students with learning disabilities), and other resources including motivational activities, sticker books, and posters for kids with learning and speech disabilities.
Academic Therapy Publications
<www.academictherapy.com>
ATP publishes test books, scales, and kits for assessing students with various disabilities; materials cover various aspects of literacy.
Bonnie Terry Learning
<www.bonnieterrylearning.com>
Bonnie Terry Learning publishes workbooks and guides in reading, writing, spelling, study skills, English, and math. Resources include packets for improving each area, reference guides, and a pre-screening assessment tool parents can use.
Inclusion Books
<wwwinclusion.com/inclusionpress.html>
Inclusion Books publishes works--intended primarily for educators and other organizations--that focus on inclusion with a person-centered approach,
Lash & Associates Publishing
<www.lapublishing.com>
Lash & Associates publishes mostly nonfiction guides and reference books that can either be found by looking for type of person (adult, child, veteran) or by type of brain injury. Offerings include story books, other fiction, and nonfiction for children and teens.
Partnership for Inclusion (PFI)
<http://fpg.unc.edu/~pfi/index.cfm>
PFI is a statewide technical resources assistance project in North Carolina, providing help (training and consultation) to include young children with disabilities (up to age 5) in the community, It has a wide array of products in several formats and some free resources (available to all, not only people in NC).
PRO-ED, Inc.
<www.proedinc.com>
PRO-ED publishes kits, test booklets, language scales and planners, reference books, and test guides. Product categories include literacy/oral language; cognitive and developmental abilities; math; behavioral and emotional disorders; autism and Asperger; hearing, deafness, & visual impairment; testing; and professional resources.
School Specialty Literacy and Intervention (formerly EPS)
<http://eps.schoolspecialty.com>
School Specialty Literacy and Intervention produces educational products in both print and electronic formats to support the learning of students in beginning and lower-level classes. Materials focus on math and reading, and emphasize a structure-based learning style.
RESOURCES FOR SUPPORTING INCLUSION
Center for Alternative Learning
<www.learningdifferences.com/main_page.htm>
The Center for Alternative Learning website has a catalog of products for instructors and learning tools for people with learning disabilities.
Center for Applied Special Technology(CAST)
<www.cast.org>
CAST developed the concept of Universal Design for Learning from their visions and principles and, thus, created a new standard for the education of all students.
The Educator's Reference Desk
<www.eduref.org>
Educator's Reference Desk provides access to lesson plans (arranged by subject) for pre-K-12, as well as links to national education standards by subject area, information on special education (including Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004), and information on vocational, adult, and higher education.
The IRIS Center
<http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu>
The IRIS Center provides educators with free, online training resources that put research into practice. These resources are organized in modules; topics include assistive technology, transition, behavior, and classroom management. This is an excellent resource to enhance educators' knowledge about students with disabilities and for assistance in teaching them.
LD Online
<www.ldonline.org>
LD Online includes free articles for educators on how to instruct and assess instruction, include all students, work with parents, and integrate technology. The site also includes free resources for parents and sells DVDs on learning disabilities.
LD Resources
<www.ldresources.com>
LD Resources includes nearly 1,000 entries on aspects of learning disabilities, including software, educational issues and ideas, electronic text collections, supports, learning materials, and legal resources.
National Center on Universal Design for Learning
<www.udlcenter.org>
The National Center on Universal Design for Learning is another resource sponsored by CAST. It was founded in 2009 and is dedicated to providing resources to educators to facilitate UDL in their curricula.
SpeakingofSpeech.com
<www.speakingofspeech.com>
The SpeekingofSpeech.com site is an interactive forum for professionals focused on improving communication skills in the school. The site includes ideas, lessons, materials, and links to resources at other sites.
Special Ed Zone
<www.specialedzone.wetpaint.com>
Special Ed Zone is a collaborative site intended to help students with "unique learning needs" and their instructors succeed. A variety of resources are available at the site, which also includes links to useful resources at other sites.
Spectrum K12 Solutions
<www.spectrumk12.com>
Spectrum K12 Solutions develops and sells software widely used by teachers and administrators to manage educational programs, including IEPs.
RESOURCES FOR SUPPORTING LITERACY
abcteach
<www.abcteach.com>
The website provides subscribers with access to 5,000 reproducible pages and worksheets organized by subject area, as well as formats for reports, awards, portfolios, flashcards, thematic units, and games.
Bookshare
<www.bookshare.org>
The world's largest digital library of over 90,000 titles of accessible reading material for people with print disabilities. Free membership to US schools and to individual students who have a qualifying disability.
Education Place (Houghton Mifflin)
<www.eduplace.com>
Education Place provides online support for reading series, online leveled books, forms for downloadable graphic organizers, classroom games for practice in various subject areas for pre-K-8. Some resources are available in Spanish.
Enchanted Learning
<www.enchantedlearning.com>
Enchanted Learning offers free and subscription online resources for elementary classroom use, including printable books and other resources on topics such as foreign languages, diversity, science, and mathematics. The emphasis is on creativity and enjoyment of learning.
FunBrain.com
<www.funbrain.com>
FunBrain includes free games, quizzes, and teaching tools for K-8 linked to McREL subject standards; the site is sponsored by Pearson Education.
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
<www.loc.gov/nls>
NLS offers free Braille and audio materials circulated by postage-free mail to eligible borrowers. A network of participating libraries across the country work together to provide easy access to these materials. Easy searching is made possible by an accessible online catalog compatible with assistive technologies.
Reading Rockets
<www.readingrockets.org>
Based at public television station WETA, Reading Rockets focuses on teaching techniques, strategies, and resources for families and professionals working with struggling readers. The site includes downloadable print guides.
RESOURCES FOR GENERAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT DISABILITIES
Autism Society
<www.autism-society.org>
The Autism Society seeks to increase public awareness of autism, advocates for individuals with autism, and provides the latest information about research, advocacy, education, and treatment
Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation
<www.christopherreeve.org>
This foundation is dedicated to finding a cure for spinal cord injuries. The website includes information on research, resources, and grants.
National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)
<www.nichcy.org/Pages/Home.aspx>
NICHCY is dedicated to providing accurate information about disabilities, IDEA, No Child Left Behind, and research-based information. It is a great place for families and educators to go for general information (including info in Spanish).
Wrightslaw
<www.wrightslaw.org>
Wrightslaw is a source of information about special-education law and advocacy. For educators it offers a "Smart IEP Game Plan" for describing a child's level of achievement and performance, and articles on response to intervention (defining and identifying disabilities). The site also offers a special-education blog.
Emily Wopperer | ewopperer@yahoo.com