Thomas B. Kidner

These programs gained the attention of Eleanor Clark Slagle, Elizabeth Upham-Davis, and members of the US Federal Board for Vocational Education.

He developed a program that engaged soldiers recovering from wartime injuries or tuberculosis in occupations even while they were still bedridden.

He used occupations (daily activities) as a medium for manual training and helping injured individuals to return to productive duties such as work.

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.

After leaving NSPOT/AOTA, Kidner worked with the National Tuberculosis Association, as the head of the Advisory Service on Institutional Construction until 1926.