AUTHORS

Paul VAN LEDE was born in 1944 and originally studied physical education. After completing his studies in 1964, he was attracted to the new profession of occupational therapy and obtained his diploma from the Hoger Technisch Instituut in Bruges (Belgium) in 1967.
After completing his military service, he assumed duty at the University Hospital in Liège. He worked there as head occupational therapist until 1986.
Paul completed the first Belgian hand splinting course presented by A. Penta in 1971 and started his own post-graduate course for therapists two years later.
The oil crisis in 1973 created problems with the supply of derivatives, namely the thermoplastics Orthoplast® en Polyform®. By changing over to cheaper industrial synthetics, he could continue experimenting with different splint designs on different patients, namely hemiplegic, arthritic, paediatric and orthopaedic patients, as well as patients with burns or hand injuries.
Between 1978 and 1981 he was appointed to the post of lecturer in splinting and mechano therapy at the Hoger Instituut voor Paramedische Beroepen in Ghent (Belgium). At the same time he returned to study at the University, where he obtained a degree in Hospital Sciences. During this period the "Association pour la Révalidation de la Main" was founded (later known as the Society of Belgian Hand Therapists). Paul was the society's first treasurer and is its present president.

Paul was frequently invited to present splinting seminars and courses which were sponsored by a Belgian manufacturer of splinting material. In 1986 he accepted a position of Product Specialist with this manufacturer. His brief was to extend the range of products on a medical level and to teach his original splinting philosophy world-wide promote a new type of splinting material, Orfit®. This enabled him to devote himself totally to hand splinting and to gain international experience. He learned to appreciate different cultures and was able to introduce the concept of “Immediate Fitting” to different parts of the world. Since then, Paul is usually seen at most national and international congresses and shows, where he maintains contact with many well-known splint designers, many of whom have become his friends.

Griet van VELDHOVEN was born in 1963. She qualified as occupational therapist in 1985 at the Hoger Instituut voor Paramedische Beroepen in Ghent. During the final year of her studies, she completed part of her practical training at the University Hospital in Liège where she met Paul. The Flemish Association of Occupational Therapists conferred the prize for the best thesis of the year on her thesis on “Hand splinting for peripheral nerve injuries”.
Meanwhile, she was well and truly bitten by the splinting bug. She decided to improve her range of technical skills by completing the three year course in technical orthopaedics. This she did in one year. At the same time she worked part-time as an occupational therapist in the hand therapy department at the O.L.V. Middelares hospital in Antwerp where her interest in hand splinting was further stimulated.
To develop her splinting skills, she decided undertook additional orthopaedic training. The practical affiliations of this training took her to many centres nationally and internationally, including one in Norway. Here she trained as an Orthopaedic Engineer and became fluent in Norwegian at the same time she completed a night school program to obtain a teaching diploma in 1988. She returned to Belgium a year later where she qualified as an orthotist.
She has many professional interests and has been combining tasks, namely occupational therapy in a general hospital, orthotics in a university hospital, product development for a manufacturer of thermoplastics and lecturer at a tertiary institute for orthopaedics and occupational therapy. When living in Belgium Griet has been working at the Ontwikkelings Centrum voor Revalidatie Technologie (Development center for rehabilitation Technology) (O.C.R.T.) which is affiliated to the University Hospital in Louvain, where she was in charge of all upper limb splinting. Her patients where from the departments of rheumatology, hand surgery, neurology, orthopaedics and paediatrics (congenital deformities). She was a part-time lecturer at the two tertiary Institutes and runed a hand therapy practice in association with another therapist.
Griet was also an active member of the executive committee of the Society of Belgian Hand Therapists, where she was responsible for the Dutch secretariat.

For the moment Griet is living in Norway where she has been working as an occupationel therapist and orthopaedic eningeer at the national university hospital. For the moment she takes a break by studying silver and metal techniques in order to improve her technical skills as an orthopaedic engineer spesialised in handsplints.
She is still often invited as a guest speaker at various national and international congresses and courses and has published a number of papers.

She is a member of the board of the Norwegian Hand therapy society where she is the international delegate.