Joan Silverberg Bergman

She is survived by her daughters, Fawn Bergman Bloomston and Amy Bergman Hamilton (Brent,) cherished grandchildren, Alyssa Bloomston Weinberg (Jon,) Jared Bloomston (Natalie,) Cole Hamilton (Hannah,) and Matt Hamilton; great grandchildren, Avery and Max Weinberg; and an extended family of relatives & friends.

She was born December 18, 1932 in Coffeyville, KS to loving parents, Julius & Florence Silverberg. Later moving to the Shoals area of AL, she graduated from Coffee High School. Joan attended the Universities of Alabama, Oklahoma, & Florence State (now the University of North AL,) before graduating with honors from Boston University with a degree in Physical Therapy. While at the University of Oklahoma, Joan served as president of Sigma Delta Tau, vice president of PanHellenic, and an officer of Hillel. Immediately upon receiving her BS degree, Joan accepted an assignment with the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis to work as an emergency physical therapist at Crippled Children Hospital and Clinics during the polio epidemic in Birmingham, AL.

Frequently referred to as the Mother of Physical Therapy, she developed the first service delivery program in physical therapy for the general public and established the first department of occupational therapy. Joan was involved in the conception of what is today known as Spain Rehabilitation Center. She was the first director of the Curriculum in Physical Therapy at the University of Alabama and University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Joan served on advisory boards of voluntary agencies such as the Muscular Dystrophy Association. This group developed the network of rehabilitation centers in AL and were instrumental in obtaining scholarships for people to staff them. Dr. Bergman consulted and taught across the US, Canada, and England and gave invited testimony to committees of the US House and Senate. She was recognized as being instrumental in opening research and service for those people with severe physical and/or mental disabilities. She served as an expert witness in lawsuits both federal and of several states. Dr. Bergman served as Vice President of the National United Cerebral Palsy, Inc.

Joan went on to earn masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Alabama and was the first doctor in the area to have a practice in counseling psychology.

In 1969, Joan began to focus attention on developmental disabilities and joined the faculty at the Center for Developmental and Learning Disorders of UAB. CDLD became a nationally recognized program out of which grew the DESEMO project, which she had the privilege of directing. Among areas of contribution, DESEMO is credited internationally creating and patenting a process for positioning people with the most severe physical disabilities.

Upon retirement from UAB, Dr. Bergman continued community contributions serving on the boards and as an officer of The Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Health Care Authority of Jefferson County and Collat Jewish Family Services.

Dr. Bergman was named a Professor Emerita of UAB which established the Bergman/Pinkston Professorship in Physical Therapy. In 2018, UAB Department of Physical Therapy, established the Joan S. Bergman, Pioneer in Alabama Physical Therapy Award. She was inducted into the Alabama Healthcare Hall of fame in 2024. Dr. Bergman cherished those times when told a positive change had been made in the lives of persons with disabilities and family members and when cited by leaders in the field as a mentor.

The family requests memorials be made to the Bergman/Pinkston Professorship in the School of Health Professions at UAB, Collat Jewish Family Services, Chabad of Alabama, Temple Emanu-El, or a charity of your choice.