A. Jean Ayres papers, 1938-1983

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Summary

Abstract:
This collection contains materials that highlight the educational and professional achievements of occupational therapist, distinguished professor, and USC alum, A. Jean Ayres, Ph.D, OTR, FAOTA.
Extent:
1.30 Linear Feet 2 boxes
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Box/folder no. or item name], [Collection title], USC Chan Archive, USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California.

Background

Scope and content:

The A. Jean Ayres papers (1938-1983) primarily includes awards, certificates, diplomas, and yearbooks that highlight and document the educational and professional achievements of occupational therapist, distinguished professor, and USC alum, A. Jean Ayres.

Biographical / historical:

Identified as one of the 100 influential people of occupational therapy by the American Occupational Therapy Association in 2017, A. Jean Ayres, Ph.D, OTR developed biometric testing and theoretical remediation of neurological and learning disorders she termed Sensory Integration Theory. Born on July 18, 1920, her parents, both teachers, raised their daughter on a walnut farm in Visalia, California. It was in this central California agricultural area that Ayres adapted to her own sensory processing struggles that led to her innovative treatment interventions with children and adults. A proponent of a child's ability to naturally play was key to her work.

Ayres received her Bachelor of Arts in Occupational Therapy in 1945 and her Master of Arts in Occupational Therapy in 1954 from the University of Southern California. She also received her Ph.D in Educational Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1951. She did post-doctoral work at the UCLA Brain Research Institute from 1964 until 1966 and held faculty positions in occupational therapy and special education at USC from 1955 until 1984. Remaining as a clinician and researcher, Ayres founded the Ayres Clinic in Torrance, California in 1976.

Ayres was a charter member of the American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF) Academy of Research. The AOTF A. Jean Ayres Award for theory development and application is established in her name. A talented artist who with her husband, built the prototype equipment used in the Ayres Clinic, she was described as unassuming and caring by family members when back home on ranch.

A. Jean Ayres passed away on December 16, 1988.

Acquisition information:
Gift of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Wilma L. West Library and Archives, September 28, 2022.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open to research by appointment only. To request an appointment, please contact us at libraryarchive@chan.usc.edu.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing and directed to libraryarchive@chan.usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Chan Archive as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

Preferred citation:

[Box/folder no. or item name], [Collection title], USC Chan Archive, USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California.

Location of this collection:
2653 South Hoover St.
Los Angeles, CA 90007, US
Contact:
libraryarchive@chan.usc.edu
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