Enabling participation of students through school-based occupational therapy services: Towards a broader scope of practice

Abstract

Both students with disabilities and their typically-developing peers exhibit alarming participation deficits that involve many occupational areas of their school experience. Enabling participation in school-related occupations as the goal of school-based occupational therapy services invokes practice breadth. However, the documented focus of practice appears narrow, and there is an apparent paucity of evidence to describe how school participation is enabled. This paper discusses the complex concept of participation and how it can be applied in the school setting, while drawing upon occupational therapy elements. Redirecting attention towards participation can expand the scope of school-based occupational therapy to its intended broad perspective.