Written by William M. Cruickshank, one of the pioneers in special education, this collection of thirteen separate essays approaches significant problems in the field from philosophical, administrative, and semiautobiographical points of view, provoking discussion of some seemingly irreconcilable issues and providing some hard-hitting solutions. Mainstreaming and noncategorical education are particular concerns of Cruickshank, as are such separate issues as human sexuality for the disabled, self-contained classes for the mentally retarded and for gifted children, and the role of the disciplines in special education, as well as the fears, the guilt feelings, and the rejection of the handicapped by "normal" society. The book is filled with issues that should form the basis of much discussion and argument and, hopefully, solutions.

This book addresses the provisions for the Individual Educational Planning Committee in Public Law 94-142 (1975). This committee is a mechanism required for every child who by reason of a disability or intellectual deviation is to be placed in one or another type of educational program of a given school district and to develop each child's individual educational plan.