The Education for All Handicapped Children Act requires an individualized education plan for all students identified as handicapped. While computer technology has application for greater individualization, no single method makes a perfect "fit" for all students. Social survival skills are vital elements of mainstreaming as well as academics. Programmed instruction does not achieve the crucial educational goals of changing attitudes, interpersonal skills, problem solving and participant acceptance. An interaction model that can be used by regular and special educators is based on the assumption that teaching is not simply an act of cognition and that effective instruction is a result of interaction, perceptions, and expectations. This model identifies opportunities for teacher response to students, suggests types of feedback that are effective in encouraging students, and describes personal behaviors that exemplify warmth and friendly interest in interaction between the teacher and the student. Linking cognitive style with affective behavior can achieve successful mainstreaming and individualization. (JD)