Update, October 2026: we first published this write-up in 2025. We’ve since refreshed it with the episode’s official description, guest details and listening links.

Released on 7 November 2025, episode seven of Talking Dyslexia is about the tools that help dyslexic people get on with learning and working. Jack Churchill OBE, co-founder of Scanning Pens, joined my co-host Ellen Broomé, CEO of the British Dyslexia Association, and me.

Who is Jack Churchill?

Jack is dyslexic, and his own difficulties with reading shaped the company he went on to build. In 2003 he co-founded Scanning Pens with Toby Sutton, a friend from Oxford Brookes University. The company makes portable reading pens that scan printed text and read it aloud, and they are used in schools, universities, workplaces and prisons around the world.

Both co-founders were awarded OBEs in the 2023 New Year Honours, for services to international trade and to the dyslexia and special educational needs and disabilities community. Scanning Pens is now part of the Empowering Tech group, one of the co-organisers of our We Love SENCos conferences.

Jack Churchill OBE recording episode seven of Talking Dyslexia.

What the episode covers

• Jack’s journey from his dyslexia diagnosis to building a global assistive technology company

• why the right tools can change what is possible in education

• assistive technology at work

• the difference reading technology can make in prisons

Tools in the classroom

Assistive technology is one of the most practical forms of support a school can offer. Reading pens, text-to-speech, speech-to-text and similar tools can help pupils get past the barrier of decoding text and show what they actually know. Where a pupil’s exam access arrangements allow it, some of these tools can be used in exams too.

It helps to try tools early and in everyday lessons, so pupils are confident with them long before an exam. Match the tool to the pupil and the task, and ask the pupil what actually helps: the best tool is the one they’ll use.

Jack’s work in prisons is a reminder of what’s at stake. Reading difficulties that go unsupported at school don’t disappear when a young person leaves; the right tools can still change what’s possible later on.

Listen and watch

• Listen on Spotify

• Watch the full episode on YouTube (British Dyslexia Association channel)

• Listen on Apple Podcasts

Related reading: Exam season: dyslexia activities to reduce stress