The power of clinical diagnosis in the practices of occupational therapists working in educational contexts

Occupational Therapy is an emerging discipline within multidisciplinary educational teams, therefore, it's relevant to inquire about its role in the Chilean educational context. This article presents research whose aim was to analyze, from a critical perspective, how clinical diagnosis influences the practices of occupational therapists that work in the school system, considering as the main axes for research, the normative framework that governs the educational system in Chile, the discourse of occupational therapists on their practices and the relationships established with the diagnosis in this context. The sample was ten occupational therapists who work in schools from the south of Chile, to whom semi structured interviews were applied. The results allow us to visualize that educational policies significantly influence the practices of occupational therapists, even when the regulations do not specify the disciplinary role. In addition, clinical diagnosis emerges strongly in the discourse of occupational therapists, functioning as a device of power within professional practices, especially to validate the professional role within the educational context. The use of diagnosis concerning the professional identity and the effects it has on the people they work with is discussed. This article concludes with the proposal of adopting a critical vision of the discipline's task, based on the transformative action that it seeks to generate through practice.