Ron...I cannot believe you made this interpretation in your last post: " In any case, it seems to me that occupational therapy is called just that because of its focus on activity, compared to, say, physical therapy. A physical therapist would help a victim of a car accident regain muscle tone in his or her legs and the ability to walk, but an occupational therapist would teach the person how to climb a ladder, how to go up and down stairs, etc."
The whole problem here, as it seems to me, is that physical therapy is concerned with "function" as it is necessary that any goal we write for a patient has to go beyond the impairment improving but be related to a functional goal. The functional goal is often an "occupational" goal based on what it is the patient wants to accomplish with therapy. I cannot say, OK, you now have "X" degrees in knee/hip flexion and your LE strength is "X".....now, I am referring you to an OT to learn to climb the ladder. I would think that a higher level thinking PT would be able to take their client to "that next step". However......I want you to know that I still am trying to incorporate understanding and knowledge into my students activities of our limitations as dictated by modern medical model, and to lead them to understanding that OT is a vital aspect of a person's recovery and that we need to know when to refer:) Peace brother David A. Lehman, PhD, PT Associate Professor Tennessee State University Department of Physical Therapy 3500 John A. Merritt Blvd. Nashville, TN 37209 615-963-5946 [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: Ron Carson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, November 23, 2003 6:34 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [OTnow] Fwd: Re: History of the word "occupation" Hello: A while back, I wrote Merriam-Webster about the history of the word 'occupation'. Below is their response. Ron ----- This is a forwarded message From: Judy Yeh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 Subject: History of the word "occupation" =================Original message text=============== "Occupation" is related to the word "occupy," and both words ultimately come from the same Latin root word meaning "to seize, to possess or take up." An occupation is a taking up of something: occupation of another country is the taking up or seizing of land; an occupation in the sense of "an activity" is something that takes up one's time; occupation meaning "a vocation, profession, employment" is the taking up of one's time, energies, and life. This word is very old, and has been in use for centuries. "Occupation" in the sense of "employment, business, and/or an activity" has been around since the 1300s at least and was used by authors like Chaucer. However, "occupational" is more recent. The _Oxford English Dictionary_ gives a citation for it from 1850, and I am unaware of any earlier appearances of this word. As for the naming of occupational therapy...I should begin by saying that I don't know much about occupational therapy, but from reading several Web pages about the history of occupational therapy and related disciplines put up by college students studying occupational therapy (like http://www.ceap.wcu.edu/hhp/students/JeffMansfield/archive/rthistory.html http://www.angelfire.com/ut/otpsych/history.html http://tiger.towson.edu/users/ptappe1/historyOT.htm I drew these conclusions: 1) Occupational therapy is rooted in efforts in the 1700s and 1800s to improve the well-being of mentally ill and infirm people. 2) These forerunners of modern-day occupational therapists tried to make the lives of the mentally ill and infirm more fulfilling by finding them activities to *occupy* their time and teaching them skills that would be useful in an *occupation*. 3) Nowadays, occupational therapy is concerned with rehabilitating sufferers of physical illness: injuries (often obtained at work--one's *occupation*), disabilities, and infirmity. (Perhaps the field of occupational therapy expanded in the US after soldiers returned from the first World War?) 4) Someone claimed on the Internet that George Edward Barton was the originator of the term "occupational therapy" (http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&th=61e953aaa46c2c35&rnum=1). I can't prove or disprove his assertion at the moment, but you may find the writing I linked to to be interesting reading. In any case, it seems to me that occupational therapy is called just that because of its focus on activity, compared to, say, physical therapy. A physical therapist would help a victim of a car accident regain muscle tone in his or her legs and the ability to walk, but an occupational therapist would teach the person how to climb a ladder, how to go up and down stairs, etc. I think one reason why occupational therapy remains unknown is that it is often confused with physical therapy. But as the population (especially the "baby boomer" segment) ages, knowledge of occupational therapy will probably spread, since more people will find themselves needing the services of occupational therapists. I hope I have been helpful. Thank you for writing to Merriam-Webster. Sincerely, Judy Yeh Assistant Editor Merriam-Webster, Inc. 47 Federal Street, P.O. Box 281 Springfield, MA 01102 Phone: 413-734-3134, ext. 133 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.Merriam-Webster.com http://www.WordCentral.com http://www.merriam-websterunabridged.com http://www.merriam-webstercollegiate.com ==============End of original message text=========== _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, visit: http://otnow.com/mailman/listinfo/otlist_otnow.com The OTnow Mail Archive: www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] =============================================== _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, visit: http://otnow.com/mailman/listinfo/otlist_otnow.com The OTnow Mail Archive: www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ==============================================
