Caminhos históricos da regulamentação dos school-based occupational therapists nos Estados Unidos da América

“Best practices of occupational therapy in schools” – uma resenha crítica e aportes para terapeutas ocupacionais no setor da educação

“…Occupational therapy has been related to the field of education, especially with schools, having different perspectives and practical propositions, with the United States of America (USA) standing out in this context due to their volume of productions and experiences, as well as professionals who operate in the education services sector (Lopes et al, 2020;Souza et al, 2020). In order to better apprehend part of this spotlight, we looked at the book "Best practices of occupational therapy in schools", edited and released by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), in 2013, and organized by occupational therapists Gloria Clark and Barbara Chandler.…”

“…These efforts, as discussed by Souza et al (2020), started in the 1970s, when, in 1975, the "Education for All Handicapped Children Act" (EAHCA) was promulgated and, from there, numerous strategies were produced, among them, a series of articles and reflective essays, sharing and advancing the contributions of occupational therapists to this sector.…”

“…Similarly, the Working Group of the National Network for Teaching and Research in Occupational Therapy that deals with this theme is called "occupational therapy and education". In the most recent discussions of this Working Group, held at the 5th National Seminar on Research in Occupational Therapy, there was no consensus on the expression used by the COFFITO System to designate the field, since other educational spaces, such as practices in non-formal education and in universities, focused on the inclusion of people with disabilities, are not covered by this nomenclature (Souza et al, 2020). Thus, in most publications of the members of the research line "Occupational Therapy, School and Radical Inclusion", we have used the expression "education sector", which, in our view, reflects beyond the institutional space of the school and designates actions that are managed by educational policy.…”

“…In addition to the different ways in which the field is named, it is also important to note that this institutionalization of occupational therapy in the education sector took place in the USA in a very particular way, since, despite being inserted in the sector through a relatively large legal apparatus, the amount paid for occupational therapy services in schools usually does not come from the public sector and education, but from private health insurers, that is, from families (Souza et al, 2020). We will resume this specificity later; for now, let us get back to the book.…”

“…Nevertheless, there are doubts about this hiring, because, according to our documentary research, these laws come from the 1970s. However, there were already occupational therapists working in schools in the USA since the 1940s (Souza et al, 2020). The IDEA, it seems, is quite normative, requiring students to fulfill requirements related to certain diagnoses established by it to receive professional monitoring.…”