Occupational therapist practices in inclusive higher education

Abstract

The article presents experiences of occupational therapists in inclusive higher education, carried out at the National University of Colombia, and systematized from records that document them, in dialogue with the author's experience. Four areas of practice are identified: in administrative management, in student follow-up, in university policies and in the Inclusion Observatory. The Vice-Deanship of Welfare in the Faculty of Medicine in National University of Colombia is an administrative and management position that since the late 1980s has been assumed in some periods by occupational therapists. Since 2004, there has been significant professional participation in programs aimed, especially, at the follow-up of applicants and students with disabilities, and which over time have resulted in an institutional policy. The creation of the Inclusion Observatory has been a scenario for the development of occupational therapist functions and a key strategy to influence the daily life of different groups that demanded that their voices and feelings be welcomed at the university. Some approaches in relation to occupation in the university context are also synthesized, a topic to which several occupational therapists have given relevance.