Thomas B. Kidner (1866–1932) was one of the founders of the

National Society for the Promotion of Occupational Therapy The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) is the national professional association established in 1917 to represent the interests and concerns of occupational therapy practitioners and students and improve the quality of occupational ...

(NSPOT) later renamed the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). He served as president of the society from 1923 to 1928.

Life

Kidner was born in 1866 in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, England, the son of Robert Kidner and Mary Ann Bessell Kidner. In 1890, he married Emily Edith Allen; they had three children. He migrated to Canada in 1900 as one of three teachers selected by the Macdonald Manual Training Fund of Canada to introduce technical education to elementary school children. While in Canada he had many roles in education and passionately incorporated manual training into his programs including the programs to rehabilitate soldiers returning from World War I in Canada he ran from 1916 until coming to the United States. These programs gained the attention of Eleanor Clark Slagle, Elizabeth Upham-Davis, and members of the US Federal Board for Vocational Education. These programs were a product of Kidner's time as the vocational secretary of the Military Hospitals Commission. After being named vocational secretary he promptly moved to

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

in January 1916. In Ottawa, he was given the duty of preparing soldiers returning from World War I to return to their former vocational duties or retrain soldiers no longer able to perform their previous duties. He developed a program that engaged soldiers recovering from wartime injuries or

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in occupations even while they were still bedridden. Once the soldiers were sufficiently recovered they would work in a curative workshop and eventually progress to an industrial workshop before being placed in an appropriate work setting. He used occupations (daily activities) as a medium for manual training and helping injured individuals to return to productive duties such as work. While involved with NSPOT, he used his background as an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

to help build the foundation for occupational therapy including pushing for a national registry and training standards to ensure that occupational therapists were properly trained to treat clients. He also pushed for occupational therapy to stay within the medical field. Kidner's association with the medical professional association in the United States to head towards this goal and even helped push for the occupational therapy insignia to include components of the medical insignia. He is credited with bringing crafts, in general, as the intervention for treatment in occupational therapy beginning at the Military Hospitals Commission in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Within AOTA, his main concern was to establish the structure and function of the association. He began a registry of therapists and instituted standards in education and desired all therapists to promote OT and keep the profession in the public eye. After leaving NSPOT/AOTA, Kidner worked with the

National Tuberculosis Association National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, as the head of the Advisory Service on Institutional Construction until 1926. He then returned to his original occupation, working as an architect from 1926 until his death. He died suddenly at the home of his son, Arthur, in Beechhurst, NY, on June 14, 1932.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidner, Thomas B Occupational therapists People from Bristol 1866 births 1932 deaths British emigrants to the United States