1988 Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lecture
Occupational Therapy Knowledge: From Practice to theory
Anne Henderson’s lecture concerns the importance of technology and technological
theory in the field of occupational therapy. In it, she describes two types of knowledge: human
knowledge and knowledge that is specific to the profession of Occupational Therapy. The first
she calls “ordinary knowledge,” the second “specialized knowledge.” Occupational therapists,
she believes, need to use both types of knowledge in order to be well-rounded, effective
professionals.
Henderson states that occupational therapy is equal parts technology and theory, with
neither outweighing the other. Each is an important, integral part of helping patients reach their
goals of functioning independently in society. Technology and theory complement each other.
Henderson notes that occupational therapists must be both “generalists and specialists,”
generalists in the sense that all occupational therapists share a common goal to help patients
reestablish the occupations that are important to them, and specialists in that each patient is
