This study was conducted to develop an anthropological understanding of the interactions between the special education system and such "Third World" peoples as Hispanics. An intensive 2-year ethnographic study followed the families of nine preschool Hispanic hearing-impaired children through the intake process at a special school for the deaf in the New York City area, and followed a smaller sample through the first part of the intake process in the public school system. Intake included assessment, programming, placement, and evaluation. The paper discusses practices of "noninvolvement" of Hispanic parents in educational decision-making, as well as the construction of particular ideological and social relations among participants in the intake process, including supervisors, assessment specialists, teachers, parents, and children. The progress of one family is analyzed in detail to demonstrate the social and cultural complexities of the participants' relationships. (JDD)