“Best practices of occupational therapy in schools” - A critical review and contributions for occupational therapists in the education sector

Abstract

This text is the result of a seminar by the Research Group “Citizenship, Social Action, Education and Occupational Therapy”, which took place in 2019, among the members of the “School, Occupational Therapy and Radical Inclusion” line, who have investigated the book “Best Practices of Occupational Therapy in Schools”. Published in 2013, this book was widely read in the United States of America, as part of the efforts of the American Occupational Therapy Association to offer and expand theoretical and practical subsidies that would guarantee both the insertion and the qualification of performance of the occupational therapists in services and actions tied to the education sector. We believe that sharing a synthesis of this material, as well as critical reflections that were fostered by your study, in a contextualized dialogue in the Brazilian scenario, may inspire new proposals for occupational therapists who have dedicated themselves to this sector, but also discuss the risks that model transpositions can cause, since certain models and approaches respond to historically and politically situated contexts. With our differences explained, we wish that the circulation of the proposals in this book may, above all, contribute to leverage new and efficient strategies to expand the number of professionals involved in the education sector.