Public policies towards special needs persons in advanced countries have improved tremendously over the last 20 to 30 years, whether the concept is described as mainstreaming, integration, or normalization. Both educational and family policies are changing, with educational policies emphasizing free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment, and family policies considering the family as central rather than tangential to the service delivery system. However, in South Africa, children within each race group are segregated into able and disabled children. Children with severe to profound degrees of disability are excluded from free and compulsory education. School attendance for them depends on the availability of special day or residential schools. The task of soliciting funds for meals and living expenses falls to the child, his/her family, and school personnel. Policy changes are needed to improve special education services; these changes include ending the differentiation of educational rights based on skin pigmentation and adopting a "free education for all" policy. (14 references) (JDD)