Balancing art and science and private and public knowledge: a matrix for successful practice.

This issue of the American}ournal of Occupational Therapy commemorates the work of A_ Jean Ayres, an occupational therapist and neuropsychologist who, as a consummate clinician, developed a theory of sensory integration, created standardized tests and other measures co evaluate sensory integration, and designed a treatment approach to remediate sensory incegrative dysfunction. Therapists throughout the world have used her evaluation methods and treatment approach to help patients attain a better quality of life Although many characteristics of Ayres's successful practice are unique to her, we can examine and incorporate some of them into our own practice to increase our effectiveness. One hallmark of Ayres's practice is that she balanced art and science in her clinical practice, both in her evaluations and in her treatment, and used them equally as sources by which to obtain knowledge to build and verify theory_ AnOther haJlmark of her practice is that she consistently transferred, both privately and publicly, the knowledge she gained_ Because of Ayres's contributions to the field of occupational therapy and co the general knowledge base of normal and dysfunctional sensory processing, it may be helpfUl to explore the meaning, the use, and the relaCion of art and science in an occupational therapy practice and to examine the meaning and the implications of transferring knowledge privately and publicly_ Understanding these concepts may help us to better understand Ayres's model of practice, especially its evolution, and also proVide us with a greater understanding of the components of our own occupational therapy practice and assist us in apO. Jayne Bowman