This text is part of a series which aims to provide easy to read, practical guides which give the necessary subject background, supported by references to guide and encourage further reading, together with questions and/or exercises devised to assist application and evaluation. Written for in-service teachers and trainee teachers, this investigates the assessment of emotional and behavioural difficulties under provision in the 1981 Education Act, as seen by professionals and clients. The authors studied the process of assessing 29 children who had been referred on account of emotional and behavioural difficulties. In part one the authors analyze the context in which special educational needs are assessed and try to unravel the respective influences of school, LEA and government policy. In part two they examine the process from the perspectives of children, parents and educational psychologists. In part three the authors look beyond their own material in an analysis of problems and possibilities in multidisciplinary assessment.