Margaret Byrd Rawson

Margaret Byrd Rawson (June 30, 1899 – ) was an American educator, researcher and writer. She was an early leader in the field of dyslexia, conducting one of the longest-running studies of language disorders ever undertaken and publishing nine books on dyslexia.

Early life Margaret Byrd Rawson was born on June 30, 1899, in Rome, Georgia. She grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was raised a Quaker. When the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution passed, giving women the right to vote, Rawson was 21 and cast her first ballot for Socialiat Eugene V. Debs, then running for president from prison.

In 1923, she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Swarthmore College. That year, she married Arthur Joy Rawson, an engineer with whom she had two sons, Kenneth and Edward. She later continued her education at the University of Pennsylvania, studying elementary education and psychology, particularly educational testing and measurements. and quickly beginning one of the longest studies ever conducted of language disorders, following 56 boys from the School in Rose Valley for more than 50 years. At the time of her death, she was still in touch with many of them, by then in their 70s and most having had found professional success.

In 1998, she received an inaugural Lifetime Achievement award from the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), which thereafter awarded the prize in her name, the Margaret Byrd Rawson Lifetime Achievement award, for an IDA member who "embodies Margaret Rawson's compassion, leadership, commitment to excellence, fervent advocacy for people with dyslexia" and "nationally recognized" work.

The Margaret Byrd Rawson Institute for dyslexia learning, based in Frederick is also named for her, as is the Rawson-Saunders School in Austin, Texas. She was 102.

Books A Bibliography on the Nature, Recognition and Treatment of Language Difficulties (1966) Prognosis in dyslexia (1966) Developmental Language Disability: Adult Accomplishments of Dyslexic Boys (1968) Perspectives of specific language disability. The past, what has been learned? (1971) The self concept and the cycle of growth (1974) Dyslexia and learning disabilities : their relationship (1978) Reading perception and language (1978) The Many Faces Of Dyslexia (1988) Dyslexia Over the Lifespan: A Fifty-Five-Year Longitudinal Study (1995)