Autism and Occupational Therapy: Ethical and Professional Dilemmas in the Current Brazilian Context

Abstract

This essay critically analyzes the implications of the growing popularization of autism in Brazil for occupational therapy, based on a collective journey initiated in 2022 by occupational therapists and researchers from public universities. Concerns arose from the significant increase in clinics specializing in autism and the early inclusion of students in these services, often marked by precarious relationships and problematic care practices. The essay uses the conceptual framework of the Autism Industrial Complex as a framework, adapting it to the Brazilian context to understand the expansion of diagnoses and the formation of a highly lucrative service market, in which occupational therapy has occupied a central position. Three analytical axes are explored: I) Training; II) Expansion of the Labor Market and Interventions Offered; and III) Working Conditions of Occupational Therapists. The essay hopes to contribute to the academic and political debate on the direction of the profession in the face of contemporary ethical and structural challenges.