Several authors point out the importance of peers interactions for personal and interpersonal development of children and young people (Bukowski et al., 2009; Hartup, 2009); in addition, one of the strongest arguments of inclusion is to encourage social participation of SEN students. However, various studies show that SEN students present reduced patterns of social participation (Pijl et al., 2008), while other studies outline that some characteristics and specific circumstances of these students put them in a situation of greater social vulnerability (Monjas et al., 2014).

Although literature mentions SEN students in general, in reality this group comprises students with very distinct characteristics. Many studies reveal that social participation of SEN students differ according to the profiles of these students. In general, Avramidis (2010) observed that all isolated SEN students had learning and cognitive problems. Accordingly, the study of Aguiar et al. (2010) focused on preschool aged children shows that children with mild disabilities or children with social and cognitive difficulties were in less advantaged positions than children with easily identified physical disabilities. The study by Pijl et al. (2008) suggests that students with behavioural and communication problems are more often isolated. In another study comparing the social skills of students with SEN and non-SEN students, Frostad and Pijl (2007) observed that differences were most evident for the group of SEN students with behavioural problems.

These studies provide distinct images about which areas of functioning (e.g., social, communication, intellectual) seem to be more associated to social participation. It is important to note that these studies are based on distinct definitions of SEN, as well as on different measures of social participation. Based on the work of Koster et al.  (2009), which considers four dimensions of social participation, namely, social self-perception, acceptance by peers, relationships, and interactions, the aim of this communication is to explore how social acceptance by peers differ in SEN and non-SEN students and whether these differences are significant among SEN students presenting different abilities profiles. In addition, considering several studies that point out the importance of social competencies in order to get access to the peer group and to be accepted by it (e.g., Schwab, 2015), another goal of the study is to compare SEN and non-SEN students regarding social competencies and social behaviours as well as to compare different SEN students considering their social competencies and social behaviours. 

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