Reflections on the role of occupational therapists in the school inclusion of children with special educational needs

The purpose of the present article is to point out the performance possibilities of occupational therapy in the process of social/school inclusion of children with special educational needs. First, reference is made at the change from the old model of social integration to the current inclusion model, guided by the recent concepts that define it and by its implications in the social and school systems. Then, the approach to occupational therapy is grounded on the interface between health and education and their possibilities of action in the field of collaborative consulting based on school. From the reading of reference articles on the subject, it is possible to conclude that the occupational therapy professional has contributed mainly as a facilitator in the relation between school, student and family in order to seek collective, environmental and supporting solutions that enable the inclusion process.