TeachTown
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| Company type | Privately Held |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Founder | Chris Whalen, Lars Liden, Eric Dallaire, Sven Liden |
| Headquarters | Woburn, Massachusetts |
| Website | TeachTown |
TeachTown is a for profit company focusing on providing research-based best practices to schools, clinicians and parents for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, developmental disabilities, intellectual disabilities and emotional and behavior disorders. [1][2]
History
TeachTown was founded in Seattle, Washington (2003) by Dr. Chris Whalen (licensed psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst specializing in autism and related disorders), Dr. Lars Liden (researcher in the field of Cognitive and Neural Systems and Artificial Intelligence), Eric Dallaire (a video game designer and producer) and Sven Liden (a serial entrepreneur). TeachTown received initial financial backing from Washing Research Foundation following its winning best business with positive social impact at the 2004 UW Business Plan Competition.[3][4]. This was soon followed up by influential Seattle based angel investors, some of whom are the parents of children with autism and Kevin MacDonald joining to lead technical operations.
In 2006, TeachTown merged with Animated Speech Corporation. Animated Speech Corporation, founded by Dan Feshback (a successful entrepreneur) and Dom Massaro (a Research Professor of Psychology and Computer Engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz), had a complementary vision - to deliver engaging animated stories that teach language and communication skills. Dan became TeachTown’s largest investor and CEO. [5]
Terry Thoren (who took the Rugrats to global blockbuster prominence during his 12-year tenure as CEO of Klasky Csupo) took on the role of President and Chief Executive Officer in 2009, bringing a new level of character development and storytelling to the product.
In 2012 Dave Cappellucci assumed the CEO position, with Dan Feshbach remaining as Chairman of the board. The company was re-capitalized and TeachTown Inc. became a subsidiary of Jigsaw Learning LLC.
Products
- 2006 TeachTown® Version 1.1 (CDs for Windows XP)
- 2010 TeachTown®: Basics 2.0 (Adobe AIR platform) [6]
- 2011 TeachTown®: Social Skills launched [7]
- 2015 TeachTown®: Basics was re-launched as an HTML5 application, and also released for iPad and Chromebook.
- 2016 TeachTown®: Social Skills Middle School
- 2017 TeachTown®: Meta-Play
- 2017 TeachTown®: Be Safe
- 2017 TeachTown®: Transition to Adulthood
- 2018 TeachTown®: SLP Assist
- 2019 TeachTown®: EnCORE
References
- ^ "TeachTown a service for autistic children". Seattle Times. Retrieved 16 October 2006.
- ^ "TeachTown gives families hope". Seattle Times. Retrieved 23 March 2008.
- ^ "Water-chemistry monitoring company wins business plan competition". UW News. Retrieved 18 May 2004.
- ^ "Tech Digest". Seattle PI. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
- ^ "Christina Whalen Goes to TeachTown". Ed Tech Digest. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
- ^ "TeachTown®: Basics 2.0 Educational Software Computer Aided Instruction Motivates Students with Autism to Learn Language, Math, and Social Skills". PR Web. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
- ^ "TeachTown®: Social Skills Curriculum for Children with Special Needs & Autism Teaches Students Essential Behavior and Social Skills, Including Bullying Prevention". PR Web. Retrieved 10 Feb 2011.
| This article, TeachTown, has recently been created via the Articles for creation process. Please check to see if the reviewer has accidentally left this template after accepting the draft and take appropriate action as necessary.
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