This study analyzed parents' perceived reasons for placing their children with visual impairments in residential or public schools. It found that children were more likely to be placed in residential schools for reasons related to their education and well-being and in public schools for reasons related to the parents' needs. (Contains 6 tables.)

Excerpted from the book "You Are Not Alone: Understanding and Dealing with Mental Illness," the article provides suggestions for parents regarding their role as ombudsmen for their emotionally disturbed child and notes advantages of private schools, residential treatment programs, and hospital programs. (IM)

The author summarizes those federal court cases that offer the most far reaching precedents concerning the rights of children with disabilities to receive educational services, and provides a case example where parents of deaf children sought legal action to establish the rights of their children to education in local programs. (Author/LS)