Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-14
occUPArloNAL THERAPY
A New Science Has Been Built UP
About an Instinct That Every
Mother Has
WHEN baby stubs its toe and tumblcs to

.. Mother Has
WHEN baby stubs its toe and tumblcs to
w the floor. bruising its poor little nose:
mother hurriedly hicks it up. pets it and
talks to it bit and then gives 1t doll or
rattle. or some toy to play with. And,
nine times out of ten. IL the toy be sufh
GENTLY attractive baby will forget about the
bruised nose and will stop crying. When,
mother does this she Is an occupational
thcrapist; she doesn't know it. but she is.
just so long as baby has nothing to think
about except the bump on its nose it will
cry and the nose will hurt. But distract
Its attention by something very interesting
something for It to play with to do with
its hands and think about-and it's mind
leaves the bruise of its nose and the pain
immediately seems to be less. To that cX-
TENT at least, we can agree with the Chris
tian Scientists in considering that pain is
error. that 1t is largely the result OF men,
tai attitude toward it.
SEVENTY FIVE years ago tho old
~ Quaker doctors at the Friends Asylum
in frankford found that the symptoms OF
their patients often became less acute II
tho patients were given something that
really interested them. These doctors, suit:
ing the method to the individual case. used
toys, simple occupations and pet animals.
Whatever 1t was that the patient seemed
to, hnd Interesting. that they gave him and
they found that the change in mental atti-
tude that resulted frequently had most
bcnehcial and permanent effects.
Every doctor knows that the worst enemy
to convacscence is mental depression. In
serious cases the patient loses interest in
life; he Is bodily weakened and his mind
and thought reflect this weakness. Under
the old systems he had nothing to do but
lie hour after hour alone, gazing up at the
ceiling. n IN all hp fpp Of tho futurp
and all the morbid, hopeless thoughts that
these fears engendered.
PSYCHOLOGISTS many years ago found
that the mind has marvellous reaction
upon the body--a reaction so distinct In
some cases that 1t has actually been made
to take The place of surgical details. Con-
scquently. when the average patient sank
into the typical state of depression. 1t be-
came sometimes impossible to effect a cure;
the mind stubbornly counteracted every
possible beneficial effect of the medical
treatment.
And so, very gradually, mothers methods
applied to baby's bumped nose and the old
Quakers' methods with their Frankford
cases became interviewer and elaborated
and new branch of science appeared.
The war has brought it to its full fruition.
Three years ago, when those interested
formed an association and met for their first
conference. just six persons attended. To-
day. in the Rittenhouse Hotel. the fourth
conference of the National Society for the
Promotion of Occupational Therapy is
holding forth with representatives from all
over the Union and with both state and
federal officials in attendance.
"0CCUPATIoNAL therapy" is, of
~ course, a forbiddng- sounding name
that at once creates the impression in the
average mind that it is something exceed
tV,,yl Al :.
be referred to as curative crafts and,
while not suiting modern scientific tenden-
cies, that old name is really an excellent
definition for it. Robbed of its technical
flavor, therapy is simply the branch of sci
ence that deals with curing disease. And
the word "occupational" signifies that this
particular branch deals with the cure of
disease by means ofvarious occupations.
The aim of the occupational therapist is
to discover some occupation that will inter
est the invalid. to teach him that occupa-
ton and so to give him something for his
hands to do and for his mind to think about
so that there will be no time for the old
time blues to settle down upon him and
sink him into a hopeless relapse. And. in
cases where it is applicable. an occupation
is chosen that will give mild exercise to dis
eased parts, to get the thoughts concen-
tratcd upon making those parts perform
their functions and thus stimulate the flow
of revivifying blood into the parts.
livery one who has ever tried to cheer
IL patient up by reading to him or talk
ing to him has seen the invalid's attention
gradually wander. his eyes close and the
expression on his face gradually resume the
hopeless lines that prove that the mind has
gone back to its contemplation of a useless
future. Occupational therapy doesn't read
to invalds; it teaches invalids to do things
for themselves with their own hands-things
that are both pretty and useful and that
the invalid never before thought he could do
Every step forward in skill thus becomes Il
is n finger of hope pointing to rosy years
ahead-years that are full of promise Of
independence, of usefulness, of individual
achievement. The stubbed toe and the
bumped nose are forgotten; the wonderful
doll has become living thing and is much
more interesting than the pain.
So useful did this work prove among the
invalds sent home from the fields of France
that the National League for Woman's
Service established separate department
the War Chest, school was started in this
city at 2131 Spruce street, aided by the
teachers and equipment of the School of
Industrial Arts and the School of Design
for Women, The results so amply justified
the expenditure that the school is being
continued with constantly increasing classes
of women, who are taking up the new work
either is u field of social service or as their
careers in business.
PENNSYLVANIA was the first state to
Il develop occupational thernpy, but we
have fallen far behind some of the western
states in its practical application with off
cial sanction. II was not until about q wear
ago that this state created the position of
director of occupational therapy, and Mrs.
Frances Hinton, a graduate of the first
war intensive class at the Spruce street
school. was appointed to the post. The fed
eral government is going in strongly for the
new science by training a large body of
aides in the medical corps and by appointing
Mrs Slagle, president of the society. which
is meeting here as official consultant Of the
Department of Reconstruction of the Public
Health Service.
OF COURSE, all this will sound extremely
" idcalistic and theoretical to the hard
headed business man. He doesn't deal in
happiness and rosy futures; he deals in
dollars and cents.