ABSTRACT
Positive attitudes towards disability are crucial if integration projects are to have a sustained effect on the personal and social development of all children. The parents of mainstream children became increasingly realistic in their expectation of children with special needs; a vital step as the positive responses of a parent are powerful factors in the shaping of a young child's attitudes to disability. As the process of normalization is advocated for people with learning difficulties to enable them to live as full members of their local communities, a societal level of integration is desirable to prepare children in special and mainstream settings for citizenship. The National Curriculum offers a positive step towards integration, as it provides mainstream and special schools with a common terminology. Many pupils with severe learning difficulties are being educated full-time in mainstream schools with varying degrees of support, particularly at primary level.
