ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog

Thirteen years ago, on the Fourth of July, I wrote about autonomy. At the time, I was trying to understand what I believed was a subtle but important shift occurring within occupational therapy. I argued that our profession was moving away from one of its deepest philosophical commitments: respect for the autonomy and agency of individual human beings. Looking back, I think I was observing a real phenomenon. But I don't think I had yet identified the central issue. Over the past decade I have come to believe that the debate was less about public health or occupational science than I originally thought. Those are manifestations of something deeper. Today I am framing the question differently and in a more fundamental way: Who, exactly, is the recipient of occupational therapy? For most of our history, the answer was obvious. It was the human being sitting in front of us. Everything else flowed from that simple proposition. Perhaps that is why this question seems appropriate for Inde...