Although more than twenty years have passed since the Salamanca statement (UNESCO, 1994), research still shows that children with special educational needs (SEN) are often socially excluded by peers (Garrote & Dessemontet, 2015) and have fewer friends than their typically developing peers (e.g. Eriksson, Welander, & Granlund, 2007). Following UN conventions (UN, 2006; UNESCO, 2000) there is a drive to a more inclusive society and hence inclusive education is on the political agenda of many countries. Inclusive education not only aims to reduce educational inequalities but also promotes social participation as being accepted and appreciated by typically developing peers facilitates the development of social relations and creates opportunities for participating in peer groups (Hartup, 1996). However, social participation not only depends on the opportunity of social interaction with peers but is also affected by social competence and  peer acceptance (e.g. Schwab, Gebhardt, & Gasteiger-Klicpera, 2013). To this extent, children with SEN seem to have poorer social skills than their peers and experience more problems in creating and maintaining social relations (Carlson, 1987). Students with SEN are also more vulnerable of being bullied by their typically developing peers (Rose, Monda-Amaya, & Espelage, 2011). Studies comparing the social participation of groups of students having different types of SEN suggest that the risk of being less well accepted by peers is higher for students with behavioural problems than for students with learning difficulties (Avramidis, 2010; Bossaert, Colpin, Pijl, & Petry, 2013a).

Social participation includes the extent of social interactions, peer acceptance, friendships as well as social self-concept (Bossaert et al., 2013a; 2013b). As merely including these students in regular classes alone cannot guarantee social participation, the question arises to what extent different person variables contribute to social inclusion or rejection. To this extent Bossaert et al (2013a) reported that not all students with SEN experience difficulties, and that especially boys with social-emotional difficulties (i.e. autistic spectrum disorders) and girls with motor and sensory difficulties were at risk. Similarly, Schwab et al (2013) concluded that social participation was associated with specific behavioural difficulties of some students with SEN. Students with learning difficulties may also be at risk as research generally has found that these students often have problems with social skills (Wight & Chapparo, 2008), which may affect their friendships and social participation.

The current study therefore first aimed to investigate the social participation of primary school students with SEN (i.e bahvioural problems or learning difficulties) attending regular schools. Second, we investigated to what extent social participation was related to academic performance, behavioural problems, and prosocial behaviour.

Avramidis, E. (2010). Social relationships of pupils with special educational needs in the mainstream primary class: peer group membership and peer‐assessed social behaviour. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 25, 413–429. http://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2010.513550 Bossaert, G., Colpin, H., Pijl, S. J., & Petry, K. (2013a). Social Participation of Students with Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Seventh Grade. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 93(3), 1952–1956. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.10.147 Bossaert, G., Colpin, H., Pijl, S. J., & Petry, K. (2013b). Truly included? A literature study focusing on the social dimension of inclusion in education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 17(1), 60–79. http://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2011.580464 Carlson, C. I. (1987). Social interaction goals and strategies of children with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 20, 306–11. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3598377 Eriksson, L., Welander, J., & Granlund, M. (2007). Participation in everyday school activities for children with and without disabilities. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 19, 485–502. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-007-9065-5 Garrote, A., & Dessemontet, R. S. (2015). Social Participation in Inclusive Classrooms: Empirical and Theoretical Foundations of an Intervention Program. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 14(3), 375–388. http://doi.org/10.1891/1945-8959.14.3.375 Goodman, R. (1997). The strengths and difficulties questionnaire: a research note. Journal Of Child Psychology And Psychiatry And Allied Disciplines, 38, 581–586. Hartup, W. W. (1996). The company they keep: Friendships and their developmental significance. Child Development, 67, 1–13. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1996.tb01714.x Rose, C. A., Monda-Amaya, L. E., & Espelage, D. L. (2011). Bullying Perpetration and Victimization in Special Education: A Review of the Literature. Remedial and Special Education, 32, 114–130. http://doi.org/10.1177/0741932510361247 Schwab, S. ., Gebhardt, M., & Gasteiger-Klicpera, B. (2013). Predictors of social inclusion of students with and without SEN in integrated settings. Hrvatska Revija Rehabilitacijska Istrazivanja, 49(Suppl.), 106–114. UN. (2006). Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml UNESCO. (1994). The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education. Salamanca, Spain. UNESCO. (2000). Education for All 2000 Assessement: Global Synthesis. Venetz, M., Zurbriggen, C. L. A., Eckhart, M., Schwab, S., & Hessels, M. G. P. (2015). The Perceptions of Inclusion Questionnaire (PIQ). English Version. Retrieved from www.piqinfo.ch Wight, M., & Chapparo, C. (2008). Social competence and learning difficulties: Teacher perceptions. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 55(4), 256–265. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1630.2007.00706.x