Welcome to the GITWL 2007 Conference: Charting A Course To Literacy
Literacy is liberating. It opens doors, enlarges the world and makes life richer and more meaningful. Reading impacts us in a way that no other art form - or life skill - can duplicate. It touches all areas of our lives.
Literacy for individuals with visual impairments is an area of increasing interest. At one time, the subject was just one of many diverse topics discussed at general conferences. But for the past 14 years, a group of professionals and individuals with visual impairments has organized a conference devoted specifically to this topic...
In 1993, professionals and individuals with visual impairments in Little Rock, Arkansas decided to organize a topical conference to focus specifically on issues related to literacy. The conference, called Getting In Touch With Literacy was planned by a grass roots committee and held with great success in Little Rock.
Since 1993, this conference has been held every other year. It is not sponsored by any one group or organization but instead is embraced by professionals in a variety of organizations within one community. Each conference committee has the responsibility to make a decision about where the next conference will be held. The following communities have organized and sponsored the literacy conference in the past:
- 1993 Little Rock, Arkansas
- 1995 Austin, Texas
- 1997 Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 1999 San Francisco, California
- 2001 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 2003 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- 2005 Denver, Colorado
Join us for the 2007 Conference at the lovely TradeWinds Island Grand Resort on St. Pete Beach in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area of Central Florida. Our theme for this year's conference is Charting a Course for Literacy reflecting that literacy must be explicitly planned and systematically taught. Please take this opportunity to "set sail on a journey" to share your innovations, broaden your horizons and expand your knowledge about providing literacy opportunities to individuals who are blind, visually impaired or deaf-blind.