IDA AWARDS

The International Dyslexia Association is pleased to present annual awards to recognize those active in the field of dyslexia and also those who struggle with learning disabilities, yet have reached great levels of achievement despite the challenges they face.

The Samuel Torrey Orton Award

The Samuel Torrey Orton Award is the International Dyslexia Association’s highest honor. The Award recognizes a person or persons who have:

• Made a vital contribution to our scientific understanding of dyslexia, or

• Significantly enhanced and advanced our capacity to successfully intervene and assist people with dyslexia, or

• Expanded national and international awareness of dyslexia, or

• Demonstrated unusual competence and dedication in service to people with dyslexia

Margaret Byrd Rawson Lifetime Achievement Award

The Margaret Byrd Rawson Award recognizes the work of an individual to advance the mission of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA). The Award shall be given to a member of IDA whose work on behalf of IDA embodies Margaret Rawson’s:

• Compassion

• Leadership

• Commitment to excellence,

• Fervent advocacy for people with dyslexia

• And whose work is nationally recognized as furthering the mission of IDA

The Norman Geschwind Memorial Lecture

When Norman Geschwind died of cardiac arrest on November 4, 1984, the Orton Society, (now the International Dyslexia Association; IDA), lost a member of its Board of Directors, a speaker of great note, the scientific mind behind the society’s Neuroanatomy Study, and a dear friend. Dr. Geschwind was Chief of Neurology at Beth Israel Hospital and was James Jackson Putnam Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. He also held professorships at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Psychology and the School of Health Sciences and Technology. His interest in the work of the Orton Society stemmed from his research on the relationship between brain anatomy and behavior. To honor Dr. Geschwind’s memory, in 1985 the Orton Society established a Norman Geschwind Memorial Lecture Fund that is used to provide a speaker at the IDA Annual Conference. The speaker is to represent the broad nature of Dr. Geschwind’s interests in dyslexia and related disabilities and abilities. The legacy of his curiosity lives on. (Perspectives on Dyslexia, Winter 1985)

Distinction of Service Award

The IDA Circle of Excellence Award recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution as a volunteer in a leadership role for the International Dyslexia Association (IDA). This individual has achieved the following:

• Significant impact on IDA and the people we serve at the local, state, national, or international level in any of the following capacities: editorial board or committee leadership, program delivery, community outreach, fundraising efforts, marketing and communications and governance responsibilities.

• Consistent service as a proud ambassador for the organization