Texas Advocates — Next Chapter Book Club

Project Summary
The Texas Advocates Next Chapter Book Club project gave people with developmental disabilities (DD) meaningful opportunities to build social networks and enhance their reading skills. By launching book clubs in five counties, the project offered participants an enjoyable way to interact with friends, meet new people, deepen their appreciation of reading, and boost their self-confidence and decision-making abilities. The clubs also helped members reduce their isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

TCDD supports new initiatives to create more ways for Texans with DD to be included in their communities. New initiative projects identify and propose innovative solutions to statewide, regional, or local needs. The projects may include programs, partnerships, or policy initiatives. The projects may also focus on benefiting unserved or underserved groups.

Project Highlights

• Texas Advocates launched and coordinated 13 book clubs with a membership of over 150 people with DD and support from 20 volunteer facilitators.
• Through participating in book clubs, participants said they gained confidence making their own decisions; meeting new friends; reading for enjoyment; and using their improved reading skills to learn and understand information important to their lives.
• Two book clubs held meetings in Spanish, and several clubs benefited people with DD in rural areas as well as unserved and underserved areas of Texas.     
    

Personal Impact Stories
The Coastal Bend Next Chapter Book Club published its own cookbook, with members and facilitators working together to pick recipes and prepare the book for publication. The club sold the cookbook to raise money to buy new books to read. The cookbook was a popular and well-received holiday gift for the club members’ family and friends.

Members of another book club read excerpts from “The Diary of Anne Frank” at a Holocaust remembrance event in their community. Several members said the skills they developed by participating in the book club helped them feel comfortable reading in public. They said they “surprised themselves” by participating in the event and receiving a positive response from community members in the audience.

A mother whose daughter participated in one of the project’s book clubs said her daughter showed new interest in reading and understanding information that affected her daughter’s life, including details about prescription medications.