ABSTRACT
This chapter summarises the background to the Act and the Act itself. It analyses some inconsistencies in the Act and discusses possible implications for I.e.a. support services and for teachers in ordinary schools. Children are being referred to special schools for educational problems, but on medical criteria. The Ministry of Education laid down ten categories of handicap. The recommendation to abolish the categories of handicap, replacing them with the broader concept of special educational need reflected the logical and administrative anomalies arising from the former system. The 1981 Education Act provides an entirely new legislative framework for meeting special needs. Acts of Parliament are not the usual place to discuss controversial professional issues such as the school's influence on whether children can be said to have special needs. The chapter concludes that while the Act undoubtedly has implications for ordinary schools, there are no grounds for optimism about its likely impact.
