The year 2020 marked the thirtieth anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). At present, the national legislative development and that of the 17 autonomous communities incorporates the minimum standards proposed by UNCRC and UNCRPD but this development has not yet reached the educational legislation and in practice there are limitations to the participation of children and young people, particularly those with Specific Educational Support Needs (SESN) (Casado-Muñoz, Lezcano-Barbero, & Baños, 2019). Spanish research on child participation highlights the concept of "the voice of the child" (VdN) (Escobedo, Sales and Traver, 2017; Márquez and Sandoval, 2016). The studies emphasize the VdN as a matter of democratic life (Susinos, 2013), rather than defending a participatory and inclusive model based on children's rights and related policies (Byrne & Lundy, 2018). This need for further research in this field based on a new rights-based paradigm, particularly that defined by Article 12 of the UNCRC, led to the development of parallel research in Spain and Scotland, allowing us to compare the practical realization of rights in two jurisdictions in northern and southern Europe. The research revealed different levels of legislative development, administrative processes and approaches to dispute resolution. When asked to comment on the legislative development in Scotland, which give children with ASN the same rights as their parents, Spanish practitioners expressed reservations, believing that this approach might not work in their own context. Schools also varied, with some practitioners far more enthusiastic than others in their adoption of a children’s rights focus.

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