1 Introduction

The insertion of Occupational Therapy in the field of Education, historically, occurred through Special Education practices, aiming to support educators in actions directed specifically to students with disabilities, such as physical, visual, cognitive, auditory, or developmental disorders. This action was based on therapeutic interventions planned from the criteria of clinical or psychopedagogical diagnoses, as well as the evaluation of development and the age group (^{E. F. Rocha, 2007}). These spaces for Special Education emerged initially in Brazil, based on the biomedical model, for which people with disabilities were conceived as "deviant" from the patterns that characterized "normality". Thus, the performance of Occupational Therapy in these Special Education institutions began to occur around the 1960s, focusing on therapeutic issues and aiming at the normalization of behaviors, according to the profile and goals of these institutions. This action was seen as a continuation of the care offered in rehabilitation institutions, that is, with interventions strictly aimed at people with disabilities, in specialized institutions of education (^{Calheiros, Lourenço, & Cruz, 2016}; ^{Cardoso & Matsukura, 2012}).

In the 1970s, Brazil adhered to an international model called "school integration", which advocated the insertion of people with disabilities into regular school classrooms (^{Calheiros et al., 2016}). In these first two moments, the exclusive target of the occupational therapist was the student, still due to the profile of these educational institutions and the education of the occupational therapist, which was carried out, predominantly, from a biomedical perspective (^{Calheiros et al., 2016}).

The 1980s was marked by an international movement for social inclusion, which proposed the redirection of this normalizing goal, from a new approach, which shifted the focus from the individual to the collective. Thus, the need for adjustment is directed at the community environments, the legislations governing educational institutions and urban spaces. Such an advance reverberated in a redirection of the occupational therapeutic actions in that context, causing the overcoming of the merely rehabilitative vision (^{Lourenço & Cid, 2010}). It is in this sense that, at the beginning of the 1990s, international conferences inaugurated the perspective of "inclusive education" (^{Mazzotta, 2011}), shifting the responsibility for inclusion to schools, and providing the ideal conditions for inclusion of all people.

^{Lourenço and Cid (2010)} consider that the perspective of school inclusion has demanded an initial and continuous education from the occupational therapist that provides a professional practice capable of broadening the focus of action beyond a clinical perspective and/or intervention focused on students, with the need to extend this intervention to the whole school community (teachers, families and school staff).

In this sense, this study problematizes the Special Education as field of knowledge and performance of Occupational Therapy in Brazil. Based on the concept proposed by the University of São Paulo (USP), Occupational Therapy is

a field of knowledge and intervention in health, education and the social sphere, bringing together technologies aimed at the emancipation and autonomy of people who, for reasons related to the specific physical, sensorial, mental, psychological and/or socially problematic, have, temporarily or permanently, difficulty in insertion and participation in social life (Universidade de São Paulo [USP] as cited in ^{Soares, 2007}, p. 3).

These issues that affect social participation can be understood as barriers that impede or hinder human performance in the environment he/she is part of.

Considering the school environment, these barriers may be physical, that is, architectural, which impairs the equal access of children with disabilities, or they may be attitudinal, that is, related to the interactions existing in the school environment, the approach to the student and the attention given to him/her in the educational process. Thus, the occupational therapist, as a professional engaged in services in the areas of health, education and the social sphere, has progressively entered environments that transcend traditional therapeutic spaces, aiming to develop devices capable of expanding the social environment, autonomy and quality of life of people, becoming a partner to develop educational work, resources, strategies and adaptations, as a support professional for the school (^{Gebrael & Martinez, 2011}; ^{Jurdi, Brunello, & Honda, 2004}).

The inclusion of health professionals in multiprofessional teams working in the field of inclusive education is legitimized by legal documents such as The Salamanca Statement (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 1994), Resolution No. 2, of September 11^th (2001) and the Special Education Policy in the Perspective of Inclusive Education (2008).

The work of the occupational therapist gains a particular characteristic of a specialized look at the occupations of the child in the environment and not only their limitations (^{Lourenço & Cid 2010}; ^{Cardoso & Matsukura, 2012}; ^{Folha & Carvalho, 2017}); thus, this study aimed to analyze how Occupational Therapy has been linked to the field of Special Education in the Brazilian context. In order to do so, this research arose from the following guiding question: How has Occupational Therapy been linked to the field of Special Education in the Brazilian context?

2 Methodology

The present study refers to a study of the Senior thesis of the Undergraduate Course in Occupational Therapy of the University of the State of Pará (Universidade do Estado do Pará [UEPA]). It was a research of bibliographic revision of exploratory character and was carried out in Brazilian indexed journals of Occupational Therapy. Bibliographic research is all research based on already published materials, such as books and papers, and allows the researcher to apprehend a comprehensive view of the phenomenon under study (^{Lakatos & Marconi, 2003}; ^{Silva & Menezes, 2005}; ^{Gil, 2008}).

This bibliographic review occurred in the two Brazilian indexed journals specific to Occupational Therapy: Revista de Terapia Ocupacional da Universidade de São Paulo (USP) - Journal of Occupational Therapy of the University of São Paulo (USP) and Cadernos Brasileiros de Terapia Ocupacional - Brazilian Booklet of Occupational Therapy (former Cadernos de Terapia Ocupacional of the Federal University of São Carlos - UFSCar) both classified in extract B1 of area 21 Qualis CAPES - Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel. The choice of these journals was due to both being the most representative exponents of the production of knowledge in Occupational Therapy in Brazil. Other authors also chose these two journals to conduct surveys on the scientific production in Occupational Therapy in Brazil (^{Lopes, Duarte, Pereira, Oliver, & Malfitano, 2016}).

The search was carried out on the websites of the journals and the descriptors that guided the identification of the papers of interest were: occupational therapy AND special education OR school inclusion OR inclusive education. The cutoff time adopted was from 2003 to 2017. This period was delimited due to the period corresponding to the results found.

As inclusion criteria, papers that clearly addressed the relationship between Occupational Therapy and Special Education were selected for analysis. This screening was done by reading the summaries of the papers found. Papers that did not meet this criterion were excluded from the analysis.

The data obtained were systematized in tables in the Word for Windows(r) program and the analysis was based on the results of each selected study and the comparison of these with relevant theoretical references and that allowed the attendance to the aforementioned research question. Thus, the analysis triggered the discussion presented in this text.

3 Results

A total of eight papers were found in the Cadernos Brasileiros de Terapia Ocupacional, and in the Revista de Terapia Ocupacional - USP, 30 papers, totaling 38 studies. After applying the inclusion criteria, 18 papers were selected, of which a complete reading was made to extract the data presented in Table 1 below:

4 Discussion

Due to the scientific production found to have been derived from studies conducted since the year 2000, most of the analyzed papers address Special Education in the perspective of inclusive education. The predominance of studies derived from the southeastern region of Brazil is clear, as well as the linkage of scientific production to universities. A recent study identified similar results regarding the concentration of studies coming from the Southeast region, as well as from the Public Higher Education Institutions focused on the profile of Occupational Therapy publications in Brazil (^{Lopes et al., 2016}). Another study identified the increase of the admission of occupational therapists in public Higher Education Institutions as of 2010 and the concentration of research groups on Occupational Therapy in the Southeast region, which may justify this concentration (^{Lopes, Malfitano, Oliver, Sfair, & Medeiros, 2010}). These data suggest the need to enhance publications on research and practices developed in other regions of the country in order to inform the knowledge that has been produced and to disseminate the practices in progress at the interface between Special Education and Occupational Therapy.

The results also point to the emphasis given to the importance of the occupational therapist in the context of Special Education and its possibilities of action. Among them, some main fronts of action became more evident, which can characterize the interfaces between Special Education and Occupational Therapy: a) the performance in the scope of accessibility, environmental adjustments, minimization of architectural and attitudinal barriers, evaluation of school infrastructure, as well as prescription, analysis and preparation of Assistive Technology (^{De Paula & Baleotti, 2011}; ^{Ide, Yamamoto, & Silva, 2011}; ^{Médice, Vitta, Contic, Zaniolo, & Vitta, 2015}; ^{Oliveira, Dutra, Melo, & Rezende, 2015}; E. F. ^{Rocha, 2007}; A. N. D. C. ^{Rocha & Deliberato, 2012}; E. F. ^{Rocha, Luiz, & Zulian, 2003}; ^{Ghedini, Mancini, & Brandão, 2010}); b) the follow-up of students referred to Special Education services, involving periodic evaluation of the development of children with disabilities (^{Ide et al., 2011}; ^{Lourenço & Cid, 2010}; ^{Bombarda & Palhares, 2015}; C. C. B. ^{Silva, Jurdi, & Pontes, 2012}); c) the technical support and the continuing education of the teachers, as well as the orientation to all those involved in the daily school life (teachers, families and community) (^{Ide et al., 2011}; ^{Bombarda & Palhares, 2015}; ^{Santos & Libra, 2016}; ^{Folha & Carvalho, 2017}; ^{Oliveira et al., 2015}; C. C. B. ^{Silva et al., 2012}; E. F. ^{Rocha, 2007}; E. F. ^{Rocha et al., 2003}); d) favoring and mediating the realization of Daily Life Activities (DLA) by the children of Special Education (E. F. ^{Rocha et al., 2003}; ^{Costabile & Brunello, 2005}; ^{Pelosi & Nunes, 2011}).

Other issues not directly related exclusively to Special Education, but also identified in the results, refer to the permanent need for a collaborative work of the occupational therapist with teachers and school staff (E. F. ^{Rocha et al., 2003}; ^{Folha & Carvalho, 2017}; A. C. B. ^{Silva, 2012}), the possibility of developing preventive interventions and promoting the development of all children (^{Lourenço & Cid, 2010}; ^{Oliveira et al., 2015}; ^{Van Schaik & Brunello, 2012}; E. F. ^{Rocha, 2007}) and the need to expand the insertion of the occupational therapist in educational spaces (^{Cardoso & Matsukura, 2012}).

In response to the guiding question in this study, "How has Occupational Therapy been linked to the field of Special Education in the Brazilian context?", the results suggest a possible place that the occupational therapist occupies in the scope of the Special Education, being a place of support to the inclusive educational processes, always in collaboration with the teacher, who is the greater connoisseur of the demands that this perspective engenders educational practices. Other studies mentioned results consistent with these (^{Gebrael & Martinez, 2011}; ^{Jurdi et al., 2004}; ^{Lourenço & Cid, 2010}; ^{Folha & Monteiro, 2017}; ^{Simões, Sousa, & Folha, 2015}).

Regarding the interfaces between Special Education and Occupational Therapy in the scope of accessibility, other studies have found results similar to those obtained in this review, which refer to interventions of occupational therapists in the field of Assistive Technology use in order to support Special Education practices in an inclusive perspective (^{Marins & Palhares, 2007}; ^{Rosa & E. F. Rocha, 2006}; ^{Simões et al., 2015}). In the same way, researchers have already highlighted the contributions of this professional to the minimization and elimination of architectural and attitudinal barriers in educational contexts, aiming to increase the participation of children with disabilities in school spaces (^{Larrieta, 2008}; ^{Munguba, 2007}).

The interfaces related to the specific follow-up of students referred to the Special Education services have also been addressed in other studies that situate the occupational therapist as a professional of the support team for inclusive practices (^{Bartalotti & De Carlo, 2001}; ^{Jurdi et al., 2004}), intellectual together with people with intellectual disabilities (^{Jurdi & Amiralian, 2006}) and autism (^{Della Barba & Minatel, 2013}).

Regarding interfaces related to teaching, family and community support, other studies have already developed empirical research on the development of continuing education by occupational therapists for Basic Education teachers, as well as on the collaborative counseling strategy between occupational therapists and teachers, referring satisfactory results in the inclusive processes of the target children of Special Education (^{Gebrael & Martinez, 2011}; ^{Folha & Monteiro, 2017}).

On the other hand, the interface related to the mediation of the realization of Daily Life Activities (DLA) by the target children of Special Education is possibly due to the fact that the occupational therapist is the professional fit for this intervention, since, according to the Resolution COFFITO Nº 316/2006, it is the exclusive competence of the occupational therapist to perform the functional training aiming at developing skills for the full accomplishment of the Daily Life Activities (^{Conselho Federal de Fisioterapia e Terapia Ocupacional [COFFITO], 2006}; ^{Cazeiro, Bastos, Santos, Almeida, & Chagas, 2011}). In that regard, it is also inserted the fact that one of the main objectives of Occupational Therapy is related to the promotion of autonomy and independence so that people can get involved in the various daily activities that they need or want, allowing them to carry out occupations and participate in various environments such as school, work, leisure and home life (^{Trevisan & Della Barba, 2012}).

This allows us to verify what the ^{American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) (2015)} mentions regarding the field of Occupational Therapy, which is designed to support the involvement, participation and health of people in occupations that are significant in their life contexts. Based on this, we can consider fundamental, to this profession, the premise of promoting the involvement and full participation of people in education from an occupational perspective.

5 Final considerations

This study aimed to analyze how Occupational Therapy has been linked to the field of Special Education in the Brazilian context and allowed to identify and analyze ways in which Occupational Therapy has been linked to the field of Special Education in the Brazilian context. This linkage concerns an eminently collaborative character between occupational therapists and teachers, as well as other actors that make up the daily school routine, aiming to provide conditions and opportunities for learning and participation for children whose school performance is affected by limiting situations or disabilities. The main intervention axes mentioned in the results of this study involve: prescription and provision of Assistive Technology; environmental adaptations of toys and materials; and continuing education for teachers.

Although the studies found were predominantly derived from the Southeastern region of the country, research and practices in this field are already identified in the other regions, which indicates the presence of Occupational Therapy in support of Special Education practices in development.

It is important to highlight the need to disseminate these practices, in order to provide feedback to the interventions already carried out and to stimulate the implementation of new services, since the main beneficiaries of this intervention are the students and the school community (teachers and family members). It is noteworthy that the methodological option of the authors corresponded to the search in specific journals of the profession of occupational therapists, but other potential studies in the Occupational Therapy and Education/Special Education interface can be found and conveyed in journals from the field of Education and Special Education. Therefore, it is suggested, for future studies, the expansion of the searches in order to involve non-specific journals of the profession. Despite this restriction, it was observed that there is a production of knowledge about Occupational Therapy in the field of Special Education, which points to the findings that occupational therapists have been linked to this field in a specific way, with the main purpose of composing the interdisciplinary team that promotes inclusive practices in educational environments, having, at the interface with Special Education, an expressed and delimited place, which aims to corroborate with practices that provide conditions for participation and learning to the target population of Special Education, promoting their effective inclusion in educational environments (^{Munguba, 2007}; ^{Marins & Palhares, 2007}).

As this intervention is eminently collaborative with teachers and school staff, the occupational therapist is a powerful partner for the implementation of inclusive educational practices.