特別支援教育における作業療法士の訪問活動の成果─教員は作業療法士をどのように理解しているのか？

Outcomes of school visits by occupational therapists in special needs education : How do teachers understand occupational therapists?

要旨：特別支援教育におけるOTの訪問活動の成果を検討するため，通常学級の教員がOTについてどのように，どの程度理解しているのかを明らかにすることを目的としたアンケート調査を行った．対象はOTの支援を直接受けたことがある教員（A群），A群が所属する学校でOTの支援を直接受けたことがない教員（B群），OTが訪問する機会がなかった学校の教員（C群）とした．結果，A群教員はC群教員と比較して，特別支援教育においてOTがどのようなことができる専門家であるかについての理解が高かった．B群教員はA群教員と同等の高い理解を示した．各群教員のOTに対する理解の程度から，特別支援教育におけるOTの訪問活動の成果が示唆された．

　The objective of this study is to examine the outcome of OTs' school visits by measuring how and how much the regular class teachers understand OTs' roles. Drawing on 17 pieces of literature on special support education, a 42-item questionnaire was created. The regular class teachers in the city filled out the questionnaires and were divided into three groups : teachers who had received OTs' visits and direct support (Group A), teachers who had received OTs' visits but never received direct support from OTs (Group B), teachers who had never received OTs' visits (Group C). The results indicate that Group A showed a deeper understanding of OTs than Group C. Group B and Group A showed equal deep understanding. The degree of understanding of OTs among the three groups suggests a positive outcome of OTs' school visits for special support education.