Making a Difference: Occupational Therapy in the Public Schools

Abstract

In this study the nature of occupational therapy practice in the public schools was explored through the use of qualitative methodology. Five expert school system practitioners participated in open-ended, in-depth interviews conducted by the principal investigator These occupational therapists were asked to narrate a situation from their practice when they felt their interventions had made significant differences for students and in students' abilities to learn in school. Transcripts from the narrative interviews were analyzed for thematic content using a method of constant comparative analysis (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Three major themes emerged from this analysis: reframing, untold stories and situatedness, and ambivalence and paradox. The results of this study describe the practice of expert occupational therapists in public schools from a unique perspective. They also provide some insights into the ways in which educationally related occupational therapy services developed over time.