The question of segregated and integrated settings for education and the relationship of special and regular education are analysed as two of the consequences of legislation in the USA which mandates public education in the least restrictive environment for all handicapped children. The USA is focused upon because its attempt to legislate educational and social change for handicapped children is supported by federal funds which have enabled American educators and parents to develop many well documented and some longstanding programs of integration. Parents and professionals have a crucial but unequal relationship to each other as they seek to do what each believes is best for the handicapped child. Classroom teachers are the cornerstone of successful integration programs which require a new relationship between special and regular educators. The implications of integration for both able bodied and handicapped children are examined, with particular attention to the new call for social skills training of handicapped children who are now being stereotyped as deficient in these skills.