Muriel Zimmerman
American occupational therapist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Muriel Ellen Zimmerman (1916 – September 25, 2012) was an American occupational therapist, head of the Self-Help Device Unit at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine in New York City.
Muriel Zimmerman | |
|---|---|
 Muriel Zimmerman, from a 1983 newspaper. | |
| Born | 1916 Lehman, Pennsylvania |
| Died | September 25, 2014 (aged 97–98) Colonie, New York |
| Occupation | Occupational therapist |
Early life
Zimmerman was born in 1916, in Lehman, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Frederick U. Zimmerman and Mabel Ellen Dana Zimmerman.[1] She trained as an occupational therapist at the Philadelphia School of Occupational Therapy.[2]
Career
Zimmerman was supervisor of occupational therapy and associate director at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (IRM) in New York.[3] She taught occupational therapy courses at New York University from 1956 to 1974.[4] Her work as head of the institute's Self-Help Device Unit[5] focused on creating devices for rehabilitation, including the universal cuff, the Swedish Arm Support (deltoid aid), and finger splints, and on introducing assistive technology to disabled users.[6] She encouraged her clients to be resourceful in crafting their own tools and gadgets,[7] including everyday self-care items such as tableware and clothing.[8][9] She also established occupational therapy programs in other countries.[10]
Zimmerman was author of Self-Help Devices for Rehabilitation (1958), and co-author of Living with a Disability (1953, with Howard Rusk and Eugene J. Taylor), and Functional Fashions for the Physically Handicapped (1961, with Helen Cookman).[11] In 1960 she gave the Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lecture, titled "Devices: Development and Direction".[12]
Personal life
Zimmerman died in 2014, aged 98 years, in Colonie, New York.[1]
