Spring Special ’26, Episode 1

Fighting for people with dyslexia, with Teresa May, Ph.D.

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan is joined by executive director of the Margaret Byrd Rawson Institute, Teresa May, Ph.D. Teresa shares her powerful story, from being a student with dyslexia to fighting systemic barriers in education. Teresa and Susan also discuss Teresa’s extensive legal advocacy for her sons' right to appropriate dyslexia education; the legacy of Margaret Byrd Rawson, a groundbreaking activist who dedicated her life to helping students with dyslexia succeed; and the importance of early intervention and understanding each child's unique learning needs.

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Transcripts and additional resources:

Download the Dyslexia Support Power Pack.
Listen to Science of Reading Essentials: Dyslexia.
Learn more about the Margaret Byrd Rawson Institute.
Follow the Rawson Institute on Instagram.
Like the Rawson Institute on Facebook.
Connect with the Rawson Institute on LinkedIn.
Listen to Season 2 of Amplify’s Beyond My Years podcast.
Join our community Facebook group.
Connect with Susan Lambert.
Read the transcript.

Meet Our Guest(s):

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Teresa May, Ph.D.

Teresa May is a sociologist, advocate, and executive director of the Margaret Byrd Rawson Institute. With over 30 years of experience as an educator and reform leader, she brings both professional expertise and personal insight as a dyslexic mother of two dyslexic sons. She has advocated for educational equality from local schools to the U.S. Supreme Court and is the author of “A Parent’s Journey” in Why Kids Can’t Read: Challenging the Status Quo in Education. A Maryland Woman of Achievement award recipient, she now focuses on dismantling barriers to evidence-based reading instruction and empowering stakeholders to recognize dyslexia as a different way of learning that requires different teaching approaches.

Meet our host, Susan Lambert

Susan Lambert is chief academic officer of literacy at Amplify and host of Science of Reading: The Podcast. Throughout her career, she has focused on creating high-quality learning environments using evidence-based practices. Lambert is a mom of four, a grandma of four, a world traveler, and a collector of stories.

As the host of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Lambert explores the increasing body of scientific research around how reading is best taught. A former classroom teacher, administrator, and curriculum developer, she’s dedicated to turning theory into best practices that educators can put right to use in the classroom, and to showcasing national models of reading instruction excellence.

Person with short blonde hair, glasses, and earrings, wearing an orange jacket, smiling in front of a plain gray background—committed to literacy education and fostering background knowledge for all learners.

Quotes

“We thought reading and writing was as natural as speaking. It's not.”

—Teresa May

“There's no time to waste. A child only gets one childhood.”

—Teresa May

“You teach this complex language as it is to the child, as he or she is. If you do that, you don't leave anyone behind.”

—Teresa May

“There is a science and an approach that we can take to help kids learn how to read.”

—Teresa May

“[People]  remember the kindness of a teacher or the meanness, but they don't remember the explicit way they learned [to read].”

—Teresa May