The Dutch education system is following the trend towards more inclusive education. This has been stimulated by the newly implemented law called Adaptive Education. General schools are now required to provide all students with adequate support, regardless of their special educational needs. However, several international studies showed that teachers and support staff have difficulties in meeting the needs of students (e.g., Norwich, 2008; Frostad, Mjaavatn & Pijl, 2011). Taking decisions in the best interest of the child is clearly expressed in the UNCRPD. However, in educational decisions children’s voices are rarely listened to. This study focuses on the voices of students with SEN in general education regarding the extra educational support they receive. This study has three objectives: 1) What educational support needs do students with SEN have; 2) What are their experiences with the received educational support; 3) What are the perceived effects of the received support on both academic achievement and social participation? Two groups of students with SEN were included: 1) students with dyslexia, and 2) students with social-emotional or behavioral problems. Students in mainstream secondary schools were included in the study (N= 20). Semi-structured interviews covering the three main objectives were administered to all students (i.e., needs, experiences and effects of educational support). Additionally, the Dutch version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997) was administered to all students and their parents. The steps for analyzing qualitative data were followed described by Bazeley (2013). The results show that students are relatively satisfied with the received educational support. Additionally, students propose that classmates can provide extra support (cf. Katz et al., 2012), which is not commonly used in the Netherlands. Regarding social participation, students report that extra educational support outside the classroom has negative effects on their social participation (cf. Norwich & Kelly, 2004). Contrastively, support in small subgroups has positive effects on social participation. This study shows the effects of educational support on both academic achievement and on social participation according to the students themselves. These outcomes will help practitioners to assess students’ voices, and subsequently to develop the optimal support for students with SEN.

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