The paper reviews cultural experiences that create home-school discrepancies in Puerto Rican adolescents, some of whom have remigrated from the mainland to the island, and considers factors leading to a diagnosis of social maladjustment or emotional disturbance. The effects of cultural experience, the parents' expectations, and the family's economic situation are examined. Cultural discrepancies experienced by Puerto Rican pupils participating in "More Alternatives for Students," an alternative program in Hartford, Connecticut, included discrepancies in time, space, dependency, personalism, humanism, and relationalism between both cultures. The author concludes that special education teachers must realize that their educational methods are derived from their own culture and must gain a more thorough understanding of the island's educational methods and culture. (CL)