For ALL students to effectively participate in the general curriculum and a comprehensive assessment process, they must have instructional and assessment materials that are accessible to their needs.
The goal of RIMAC is to insure that eligible students with disabilities receive their instructional materials at the same time as their non-disabled peers, as required by the law.
What is RIMAC?
The Rhode Island Materials Access Center (RIMAC) is the support center for the RI AEM (Accessible Educational Materials) Initiative, a statewide system designed to provide appropriate accessible formats for an eligible person.
RIMAC has worked in partnership with RIDE to develop RIMAC into a more comprehensive resource library to support Rhode Island’s students with unique needs. Historically, materials access centers have focused on visual impairments and formats such as large-print and Braille to support students. RIMAC now has a broader focus on providing accessibility through even more formats such as objects, tactile images, digital resources, and high contrast items.
Reading
Books are matched with a variety of resources to support Common Core State Standards, and include multiple ways to reinforce content. This allows opportunities for all students to be involved in learning. Book kits and other resources are available to be checked out through our loan system. These kits support a wide range of learners with diverse materials that may include audiobooks, adapted books, visuals, 3D models of the images and characters from the book. Other materials that can be found in book bags are games, adapted retells, sensory supports, and high contrast videos or slides that reinforce learning. These book based sets allow for adaptive materials that can be enjoyed by many, allowing a classroom to learn as a community. Our library continues to grow and move towards higher grades while also supporting students with resources for alternate assessments.
Math and Science
Math and science kits are growing areas of our library that utilize books to explain concepts, models, manipulatives, and 3D printed items. The goal of these kits is to provide more hands-on, adapted materials so that students can receive the extra support they need.
Social Emotional
Accessible materials are not just limited to content areas. We also have a large collection of social emotional kits with hands-on activities and multi-leveled resources that help teach self-regulation, social skills, and much more. These provide great opportunities for speech and language therapists, social workers, and classroom teachers to have access to materials that are already adapted to meet a variety of needs.
Life Skills
An area of the library that is being developed is our life skills section. We currently feature skills students may need to be be successful in their daily lives and also as they progress to vocational skills. Hands on activities help students practice these skills in a fun manner.
Resources
Sometimes you just need a single resource to expand on a skill so RIMAC has several additional resources that can be borrowed on their own. The focus of these items is to increase access to learning which may be through objects, added Braille, interactive resources, and more.