Occupation on the Edge: Occupational Science in Dialogue With Anthropology and Occupational Therapy, Panel 3 - Paper 2

This paper will explore how clinical issues in occupational therapy lead to questions regarding the nature of occupation, the focus of occupational science. Because of the inextricable link between culture and occupation, anthropological methods and anthropological theories often inform qualitative research studies in occupational therapy. Drawing from an ethnographic study of adults with high functioning autism, the goodness of fit and the points of intersection between anthropology and occupational science will be explored. Examples show how anthropological theories enrich our understanding of the lives of a population where culture and occupation have until recently, been largely ignored