Ethical perspectives on school-based practice: care, rights, justice, and compromise

As the need for school-based therapy increases, so too do costs, and a growing public reluctance to pay for these services. This article examines the ethical complexities facing school-based therapists who must make hard choices about how best to allocate their time and skills to meet the needs of children living with disabilities. An actual case about the decision to reduce occupational therapy direct interventions provides the vehicle for articulating four different ethical perspectives. Hypothetical therapists respond to the case using the concepts and theoretical constructs from an Ethic of Care, Rights-Based Ethics, Justice, and Integrity-Preserving Compromise.