By 1989, The Education Act (Section 8) legislated “equal rights
to primary and secondary education, people who have special
educational needs (whether because of disability or otherwise)
have the same rights to enroll and receive education in state
schools as people who do not.” (Ministry of Education, New
Zealand) As with general education, the development of special
education in New Zealand has been influenced by ideas and
practices imported from other countries, especially Britain and
the United States. A reasonable range of special education
provisions has evolved for students who have social, emotional
or behavioral difficulties and speech, hearing, visual or
physical disabilities. In the intervening years, New Zealand ’s
belief in an egalitarian society has been combined with an
increasing international awareness of human rights and
disability issues. A significant outcome of such thinking has
been the development and implementation of the Special Education
2000 policy. The special education policy fram