This text presents 26 case studies which examine special education provisions for children in the world today. The reports focus on the current state of special education in selected nations and major issues and controversies in the field of special education within those nations. Each case study addresses the following themes: (1) prevalence of exceptional conditions; (2) identification of exceptionalities; (3) labeling the handicapped population; (4) the social context of special education; (5) the legal and bureaucratic structure of special education; (6) teachers, schools, curriculum, and pedagogy for special education; (7) major controversies and issues in special education; and (8) emerging and future trends in special education. Part 1 contains four case studies of countries where special education is very limited. They are: "South Africa" (David R. Donald); "Papua New Guinea" (Barend Vlaardingerbroek et al.); "Senegal" (Sabou Sarr); and "West Bank and Gaza Strip" (Samir J. Dukmak). Part 2 contains nine case studies of nations with emerging special education: "Nigeria" (Theresa B. Abang); "Islamic Republic of Iran" (G. Ali Afrooz); "Brazil" (Lucia Gomes Vieira Dellagnelo); "Indonesia" (Conny Semiawan); "Egypt" (Wasfy Aziz Boulos); "Pakistan" (Mah Nazir Riaz); "China" (Xu Yun); "India" (Rita Agrawal); and "Uruguay" (Eloisa Garcia de Lorenzo). Five case studies of countries with segregated special education systems are in Part 3. They are: "Japan" (Giichi Misawa); "Taiwan" (Yung-Hwa Chen and Tai-Hwa Emily Lu); "Russia" (Vladimir I. Lubovsky and Evgenija Nikolaevno Martsinovskaja); "Czechoslovakia" (Marie Cerna); and "Hong Kong" (Nick Crawford and Mark Bray). The four case studies of Part 4 report on countries approaching integration: "Israel" (Yaacov Rand and Rivka Reichenberg); "Poland" (Wladyslawa Pilecka and Jan Pilecki); "Australia" (Geoffrey Swan); and "Canada" (Margret A. Winzer). Part 5 gives four case studies showing integrated special education: "Finland, Norway, and Sweden" (Kari Tuunainen); "United States" (Betty A. Hallenbeck and James M. Kauffman); "New Zealand" (David Mitchell and Patricia O'Brien); and "England and Wales" (John Dwyfor Davies and Maeve Landman). (DB)