Published on: 09/11/19
- In 100BC, a Greek physician named Asclepiades used OT techniques to treat mental illness.
- Occupational therapy was founded by three men and three women in 1917.
- Wounded soldiers returning from World War I and World War II relied heavily on OT. This pushed the profession to standardise training, instruction and certifications.
- OT’s didn’t begin working with children until the mid-20th century.
- The message for Occupational Therapy Week 2019 is ‘Small Change, Big Impact’. An example of this is an eight-year-old boy who needed assistance to tie his shoe laces, particularly when changing for PE at school. A small change was introducing elastic shoes laces. The impact was this enabled the boy to independently take his shoes on/off. He no longer required support in school from teachers, which meant he could get changed with the rest of his friends in school. A happy ending!
Many thanks to Natalie Martlew, Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist in the Brain Injury Community Team at The Children’s Trust, for providing this information.
