Texthelp and Don Johnston Incorporated join forces

On behalf of everyone at Texthelp and Don Johnston Inc., we are very happy to announce today that both of our companies are coming together to work as one.

We have worked in parallel in the edtech sector for decades. We both support equality and inclusion of all people, especially individuals with dyslexia and many other learning needs. So our collective plan in joining forces is to make our combined range of products available to as many students as possible.

Today’s announcement means Don Johnston Inc. and the product portfolio of  Snap&Read™, Co:Writer®, Word Bank™, Quizbot® and uPAR™ are now part of the Texthelp family. All employees of Don Johnston’s Education Technology Division will join the Texthelp team.

Don Johnston Inc.’s curriculum division is forming a new company, named Building Wings™ (which will include the products Readtopia® and First Author®).

A shared vision for the future

Our vision and purpose are strongly aligned. We believe that everyone has the right to understand and be understood.  We’re driven by a vision of a world where every student can feel what it is like to learn and succeed.

“Texthelp and Don Johnston Inc. share a common vision of a world where every student can feel what it is like to learn and succeed.” said Martin McKay, CEO and founder of Texthelp.  “Don and I founded our organizations for deeply personal reasons. We have an incredibly similar mission to elevate as many students as possible, helping them understand and be understood. We are so excited to have Don Johnston Inc. join the Texthelp Group and to have Don as an investor and board member.”

“Our combined teams and expanded range of products will allow us to give millions more students in the US and across the globe the best possible start in life and help them fulfill their full potential. Along with the Don Johnston team, we will continue to innovate and develop our suite of products to create the best assistive technology tools available.”

“Don Johnston Inc. and Texthelp have worked in parallel in the edtech sector for decades. We share so many commonalities” said Don Johnston, CEO of Don Johnston Inc. “Fundamentally, we are both unified by a mission to help as many students as possible learn and succeed. I strongly believe that together we can achieve more, and I am excited to see what the future holds. My new role on the board of the Texthelp Group will allow me to continue to drive forward our shared vision.”

Champions of choice

We understand that everyone’s brains work differently. We want to help each student get the best possible start in life and help them succeed. We also know that AT solutions need to be tailored to the individual. Together, Texthelp and Don Johnston Inc. are committed to providing a range of tools that educators and students can choose from.

We’ll work together to deliver the best experience for our users. We’re combining our resources to strengthen all of our products, leveraging technology, knowledge and skills across the group to help educators deliver the best possible learning experience for students.

You’ll see the benefit of this new collaboration straight away. In the first few weeks for example:

• Snap&Read will be able to read math in EquatIO out loud
• Co:Writer will work in OrbitNote 
• uPAR will recognize if Read&Write or Snap&Read is installed and will link to appropriate resources

You may also find this FAQ document useful. We’ve included it as a helpful resource for sharing this exciting announcement with any colleagues and peers.

Together we can achieve more

This is the first step in an exciting journey for us all. But for now, it’s very much business as usual.

We strongly believe that together we can achieve more, and we’re excited to see what the future holds. We hope that you will join us on this journey as we strive to help one billion people across the world by 2030.