Occupational therapy, work and intellectual disabilities: subsidies for acting in the Unified System of Social Assistance

Introduction: This essay questions the social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities, considering the specificities of their social representation. It identifies the constitution of work as a privileged human activity in industrial societies, crossing the different conceptions and concerns in the scope of the construction of knowledge and practices in occupational therapy. Objective: To develop a critical reflection on the potential of occupational therapists in the processes of social inclusion of people with intellectual disability through work, within the scope of the Unified System of Social Assistance. Method: The reflective process was based on a brief review of the state of the art on national productions dealing with the social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities through work, as well as the interface between Occupational Therapy, Work and Intellectual Disability. It highlights the importance of the expansion of actions to be developed in the context of the Public Policy of Social Assistance. Results: The lack of inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in the work environment is an evidence of an important axis to guide the actions needed to interfere with the pathological and institutionalizing fate, still hegemonic to the population in question. Conclusion: Contributions to occupational therapy practices are presented to people with intellectual disabilities, especially in the context of the Public Social Assistance Policy in Brazil