IDA and the fields of dyslexia and speech pathology lost a remarkable person in August. Margaret “Molly” Masland was a speech-language pathologist who had a passion for helping those with dyslexia. She, along with her late husband, Dr. Richard L. Masland, were among the original group of people who founded the Orton Dyslexia Society, or as we know it today, the International Dyslexia Association. She made the world a better place for 100 years and left us on August 21, 2014.
In 1976, Mrs. Masland was presented the Orton Society Award by the New York State Branch. She was presented this award by fellow dyslexia pioneer, Margaret Byrd Rawson, whose remarks were reprinted in the 1977 Bulletin of the Orton Society. An excerpt, which beautifully summarizes Mrs. Masland’s legacy, is below.
“…She helps people through her research and innovative programs and through her warm, insightful, truly beautiful work with her small patients and with their troubled elders. What she does and the way she does it should be available as a “best model” to all young language therapists.”
“…She is both well-loved as a person and highly respected and admired as a colleague. Moreover, as one of her associates, who already stood six feet tall, said of her, ‘She may not be very big herself, but you always leave her feeling inches taller than you did when you came in’…”
Molly Masland’s contributions to the field were considerable and crucial. The field is truly better for having had her in it.
Click Here to read an excellent article about Molly Masland that appeared in NorthJersey.com.
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