The aim of the article is to analyze the situation of people with special educational needs in the context of the education process, professional work, as well as social life, which is a challenge for contemporary education and social policy. The article can be treated as a theoretical review, where the following issues are analyzed; subject literature, research reports, legal acts of the education system, statistical data, legislative solutions in Poland and selected European countries, and the proposed models of help and support. The result of analysis is a deepening the educational and social diagnosis of and reflection on the direction of change.