ABSTRACT
The involvement of parents in the assessment processes for special education, and in the actual education of their children in special schools and classes, is an area in which benevolent rhetoric supersedes reality. While government publications and professional groups urge the involvement of parents as equals, the available evidence indicates that many parents feel uninvolved and inadequately consulted in the assessment processes and uninformed, misinformed or overwhelmed by professional expertise when their children are actually placed in special education.
