ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at social changes in Europe and how they might affect the education of children with special needs. It considers how special needs education fits into the context of the different educational systems of Europe. The chapter focuses on three particularly important issues - the integration of children with special needs into ordinary schools, young children with special needs, and working with parents and with other professionals. The degree of centralisation clearly has important implications for the provision of education for children with special needs. Immigration, unemployment and microcomputers are only three examples of wide social changes that are taking place throughout Europe, and their effects on the education of children with special needs tend of necessity to be rather indirect and long term. During the 1980s, most European countries have experienced rising unemployment, due to a number of factors like the oil crisis and technological advances. Developments are taking place quickly.
