A study examined Portuguese-speaking parents' involvement in and feelings about their special-needs children's education. Ethnographic interviews were conducted, in either English or Portuguese, with nine Portuguese-speaking limited-English-proficient and bilingual parents (eight mothers and one father) of severely challenged children. The report describes the study's methodology and results, and presents nine family profiles, as interpreted from the parents' statements. Themes explored include: learning for the first time about the child's disability; meeting the special needs of the child; relationships with siblings; parent attitudes about their experience; language use in the family; concern for the children's futures; family adjustments; dealing with the medical profession; second language learning; and the meaning of the experience of having a child with special needs. A section is devoted to issues in the children's education, including the nature of schooling in the United States, language and cultural barriers, school placement, educational involvement in the home, parent involvement in school, the differing roles of fathers and mothers, and facilitating involvement. Implications for educational practice are discussed. (Contains 125 references.) (MSE)