From the National Center on Accessible Educational Materials (NC-AEM)…
NLS Publishes New Regulations: Medical Doctor Certification No Longer Required for Reading Disabilities
We’re pleased to inform you of important regulatory changes that should ease access to accessible formats of materials for students with reading disabilities, including dyslexia.
Background
In March of 2020, we sent a notification about changes to U.S. copyright law that have an impact on students served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and may also qualify to receive accessible formats of materials derived from the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS). At that time, the Library of Congress Technical Corrections Act of 2019 had amended terminology for persons eligible to receive accessible materials consistent with the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act (MTIA).
Please see the following section of our website for details about that March 2020 notification: NIMAS Terms Clarified Post Marrakesh. You may also recall that in January of 2020 the U.S. Department of Education included information and language about the impact of changes made by the MTIA within procedures for receiving a FFY 2020 Part B grant award.
Update
On February 12, 2021, the National Library Service (NLS) published the regulations that go along with the Library of Congress Technical Corrections Act of 2019. In addition to expanding the list of persons who may certify a student’s eligibility for accessible formats, the Library of Congress removed the requirement for certification by a medical doctor for those with reading disabilities. Educators, school psychologists, and certified reading specialists are now among the professionals authorized to certify students with reading disabilities.
The National AEM Center will be providing technical assistance to states and districts to support the implementation of these changes. Our team welcomes any immediate questions or concerns. Please contact us at aem@cast.org.
In these otherwise challenging times, we’re relieved to celebrate this advancement in access with you, your students, and their families.
Sincerely,
Cynthia Curry
Director of Technical Assistance, CAST
Director of the National AEM Center