RTI History
The Recreation Therapists of Indiana (RTI) arose out of a
need for recreation therapy practitioners and recreation therapy educators in Indiana to have their
own professional society. The impetus
for forming RTI came about in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Prior to the formation of RTI there existed a special
interest section within the Indiana
Park and Recreation
Association (IPRA) for those with interest in therapeutic recreation. The situation
at the state level was similar to the arrangement at the national level with
the National Therapeutic Recreation Society being a special interest group
within the National Recreation and Park Association. Like their counterparts at
the national level in the 1980s, recreation therapists in Indiana generally did not believe their
interests were being fully served with their status as a section within a park
and recreation association.
A Clinical Faculty had been formed in the 1980s by Professor
David R. Austin to support the work of recreation therapists who provided
clinical supervision for Indiana
University students.
Clinical Faculty also served as advisors to the IU curriculum. At the time, Austin coordinated the
Therapeutic Recreation Program at IU. Those appointed as Clinical Faculty were
master’s prepared recreation therapists, largely from Indianapolis
and Bloomington.
This group met two or three times per year with IU faculty. Particularly during
the period of the late 1980s and early 1990s, members of the IU Therapeutic
Recreation Clinical Faculty devoted much of the discussion time at their
meetings to the topic of the need for a separate state-level professional
organization for recreation therapists in Indiana.
By the time Mary Jean Erwin became President of the American
Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) in 1993, the IU Clinical Faculty had
decided they wished to seriously explore forming a state organization for
recreation therapy professionals. Austin, who was then President-Elect of ATRA,
arranged for IU to pay for Mary Jean Erwin to fly from Memphis
to Indianapolis
so that she might meet with the Clinical Faculty in order to discuss the
benefits of forming a state organization that would become an ATRA chapter. A
meeting was hosted by John Clampitt
and his staff at LaRue Carter Hospital
in Indianapolis.
Following lunch at the LaRue Carter, Ms. Erwin met with around a dozen members
of the Clinical Faculty. At the conclusion of the meeting those attending
decided they should move forward with the formation of RTI.
IU Clinical Faculty members Cindy Ingles and Maureen
Fleetwood took the lead in filing the necessary formal papers with the state of
Indiana
(personal communication, J. Clampitt, September 3, 2006). This was done on
November 9, 1993. On November 15, 1993, RTI petitioned to the American
Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) to become an ATRA Chapter. RTI was
formally recognized as the 21st ATRA Chapter on December 10, 1993 (personal
communication, ATRA Library/Archives/History Committee, 2006).
Cindy Ingles, of Bloomington,
served as the initial RTI president during the organization’s first two years.
When she relocated to another state, John Clampitt
followed her as RTI president. Other
members of the IU Clinical Faculty joined Clampitt in playing key roles during
the formative years of RTI. For example, Dewey Norton of Indianapolis served as Treasurer for several
years. Maureen Fleetwood, from Bloomington, also
provided strong leadership, as did Vicki Scott,
Fred Evers, Pam Eakin, and J’Annelle Kerr from Indianapolis.
These RTI pioneers were soon followed by a second wave of
leaders that included Diane Baumann, Kim Clarke, Jim Quinn, Deb Getz, Bryan McCormick, Holly Talbott, and Heather
Sedletzeck (personal communication, J. Clampitt, September 3, 2006). Of the
individuals in the second wave, perhaps Diane Baumann and Kim Clarke’s
contributions rise to the top. Baumann not only served as RTI president in 1999
but she chaired RTI Annual Conferences in Rochester
in 1998, in Evansville in 1999, and in Nashville in 2000. From
1998 through 2000, Baumann chaired the RTI Legislative Committee where she was
instrumental in establishing RTI as the only ATRA Chapter to employ a
legislative counsel. Clarke likewise chaired three RTI Annual Conferences as
well as serving as an RTI Board Member, Treasurer, President-Elect, and
President.
As a result of the early efforts of these professionals RTI has
become a vital organization. In 2000, RTI received ATRA’s “Chapter of the Year”
Award. At its 10th anniversary celebration during the RTI Annual Conference
in New Albany
in 2003, David Austin provided a brief account of how RTI had begun, after
which he helped blow out the candles on RTI’s “birthday cake.” It was a proud
moment for all who had seen RTI become an outstanding organization in the space
of a decade.
David R. Austin, Ph.D., CTRS
Prepared September 5, 2006