Thunderbirds Charities Funds Readtopia, A Groundbreaking Literacy Program For Adults With Disabilities
Thunderbirds Charities has awarded Gompers’ Assistive Technology team with $25,000 to support the implementation of the groundbreaking program, Readtopia, a reading program aimed to teach literacy to children with developmental disabilities.
In Readtopia, you won’t find elementary-looking line drawings and “See Spot Run” text. Designed initially for school-age students, Gompers brings Readtopia to adults with developmental disabilities for the first time. Readtopia brings first-hand experiential learning into the classroom, so members can bridge the gap between learning through reading and learning through experience.
“We are so thankful to Thunderbirds Charities,” said Mark Jacoby, President & CEO of Gompers. “Literacy should be a fundamental right for everyone, and by introducing a curriculum like Readtopia Gompers is providing our participants the opportunity to gain the same experience as everyone else.”
Thanks to the generous support of Thunderbirds Charities, Readtopia takes members down 1,000 feet in a submarine as they learn about oceanography. Members hear from Sacagawea to understand the journey Lewis and Clark faced heading west. Readtopia brings members into a volcano in Iceland to introduce them to the book Journey to the Center of the Earth.
