This book examines the impact of cultural and linguistic diversity on the learning of children with disabilities and giftedness, and explores multicultural education and the ways that multicultural perspectives can be taught to children with disabilities. Five major sections discuss: the foundations of multicultural education, multicultural education for students with special needs, pathways to learning, bridges to the curriculum, and ways to promote language and literacy. Specific chapters address: (1) the multicultural nature of our society; (2) the theory and practice of multicultural education; (3) bilingualism and bilingual education; (4) multicultural/bilingual special education; (5) school failure and students at risk; (6) individual characteristics in learning styles; (7) assessment practices in multicultural special education; (8) preparing for the instruction, which discusses the Individual Education Plan (IEP) process; (9) involving parents, families, and communities from diverse cultural backgrounds; (10) modifying the school and classroom climate; (11) learning styles and instructional formats; (12) infusing multicultural content; (13) the language learning environment; and (14) literacy instruction. Each chapter includes brief case histories, learning activities, chapter summaries, and quizzes and questionnaires to test the reader's comprehension. Appendices include a glossary of important terms and resources for instruction. (Contains more than 900 references.) (CR)