Influential occupational therapist Elizabeth Fairgrieve, 1934-2017

Occupational therapist Elizabeth Fairgrieve has died after a long and distinguished career. She was 82.

Dundee was her home for more than 40 years and where she was head occupational therapist for the Children’s Service until her retirement in 1993.

Born in Dumfries, she trained at St Loye’s in Exeter from 1952 to 1955 and went on to work in several locations in the UK and Canada.

In 1969 she returned from Canada to Scotland to work for Capability Scotland at Corseford School in Renfrewshire. She then changed to a teaching post at Glasgow School of Occupational Therapy, completing her teaching diploma there.

In 1976, she took on the challenge of developing occupational therapy into existing children’s services in Dundee.

From experience gained abroad she saw that integration between education and health care, and multidisciplinary working would provide a common language to benefit children and their families.

This ethos continued in Armitstead Child Development Centre, special schools and latterly mainstream education until she retired in 1993.

During her long career Elizabeth achieved several ‘firsts’, including being the first occupational therapist to work with Dr and Mrs Bobath in the field of cerebral palsy, becoming the first district occupational therapist in Dundee and the first person to introduce sensory integration (SI) theory to the UK.

She had visited several treatment programmes in the USA, including that of Dr A Jean Ayres the originator of SI theory.

Elizabeth introduced SI theory to the UK in the 1970s by organising courses, originally in Scotland.

She then went on to develop and teach a series of courses, recognised by the College of Occupational Therapists, throughout the 1980s.

This has expanded further and now, in affiliation with Ulster University, offers a post-graduate masters degree in SI.

Retirement allowed Elizabeth to resume her love of travel, Scottish country dancing, walking and painting.

She continued her professional links for a while by doing some post-graduate teaching and being on the board of Capability Scotland.

Elizabeth lived in Dundee for most of her life.