Dr. Casson's Early Life

Creating self and shaping the world

“…She herself loved to sing and act, was a gifted sketcher and painter, enjoyed tools, and ‘mending locks or motor‐car gadgets’ in preference to playing with dolls. Although she was a talented writer she was not, at least in the early years, ‘regarded as particularly clever…’ (Reed, 1955).…”

“…While working there Elizabeth’s experiences convinced her that ‘appalling ignorance and neglect of physical weakness and disease accounted for much of the misery and poverty she found’ (Reed, 1955), and that many of the people she worked among required first aid as much as their homes (AWR, 1955). At about the age of 30 she surprised family and friends by deciding to take matriculation so that she could study medicine, which led, ultimately, to her becoming the first woman to be awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of Bristol.…”

“…In 1929 Elizabeth borrowed money to set up her own residential clinic for women psychiatric cases and to create a school of training for occupational therapists. Her sister describes how ‘with characteristic courage she began with very little money, in a very large house, which she soon filled with patients, staff and her first batch of students’ (Reed, 1955, p. 89). The very large house was known as Dorset House, and it was here that Elizabeth determined to develop all the ideas about treatment that had been growing in her mind.…”

Foreword

“…Elizabeth Casson was born in 1881 and grew up in the Welsh countryside within a very creative family. As a child she had range of interests that included 'mending locks or motorcar gadgets', singing, acting, listening to music, and she was to become a gifted sketcher and painter (Reed 1955). Those interests were continued in some way or other during her career as she turned from secretarial work to housing management and finally to psychiatry, culminating in her recognition of the importance of meaningful and interesting occupations to maintain health.…”

Exploring High School Students Career Interest in Aging for a Sustainable Workforce

“…Particularly relevant is the work of Ginzberg (Lee, 2012) who was one of the first to suggest that occupational choice was part of the developmental process of children as young as 1 year of age. Ginzberg's work encouraged others to study how experiences in childhood influence future career choices (Reed, 2008). As such, Gottfredson (1981) developed a model where four stages are proposed based on age categories from 3 years of age to 23 and where the social environment as well as cognitive development are considered important in perception of opportunities.…”