Edited by Barry Carpenter is who director of the Centre for the Study of Special Education, Westminster College, Oxford; he was formerly an inspector of schools and a headteacher.

• Part I Introduction; Chapter 1 Our family, Katie Carpenter, Grace Carpenter, Matthew Carpenter; Chapter 2 Working with families, Sue Carpenter, Barry Carpenter; Part II Defining family roles; Chapter 3 Finding the family: early intervention and the families of children with special educational needs, Barry Carpenter; Chapter 4 Mothers '” stress, stressors and strain: outcomes of a cross-Nordic study, Airi Hautamäki; Chapter 5 Fathers: are we meeting their needs?, Barry Carpenter, Elaine Herbert; Chapter 6 Meeting the unique concerns of brothers and sisters of children with special needs, Donald Meyer, Patricia Vadasy; Chapter 7 Grandparents: part of the family, Brigit Mirfin-Veitch, Anne Bray; Part III Cultural perspectives; Chapter 8, Dee Twiss, Beverley Stewart, Maureen Corby; Chapter 9 Working with familes in a multi-ethnic European context: implications for services, Fernando Almeida Diniz; Chapter 10 Early intervention services to children with special needs: a Welsh study, Elizabeth Jones, Jean Ware; Part IV Initiatives in research and practice; Chapter 11 Curriculum issues in early childhood: implications for families, Tricia David, Jenny Moir, Elaine Herbert; Chapter 12 Transdisciplinary approaches to working with families, Barbara Doyle; Chapter 13 Moving forward together: collaborative research with families, Barry Carpenter;