Inclusive education of students with special educational needs has been on the increase in the Slovak Republic, facing many challenges. Preparedness of teachers for inclusive education is one of the most frequent issues; teachers lack skills when it comes to the use of effective instruction depending on the individual needs of students, improvement of classroom management and social skills, and support of inclusion within the classroom. Social support is crucial for the school success of students within inclusive settings. The aim of the paper is to analyse perception of the frequency and importance of peer social support by students with special educational needs in inclusive education. The data collection tool used was the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS). The research sample consisted of 953 fourth grade students – 141 students with special educational needs educated in an inclusive setting and 812 students of the standard population. No significant differences were found between the students with special educational needs and the students without special educational needs in an inclusive setting when it comes to the perception of frequency and importance of social support of schoolmates and friends. However, the perception of frequency and importance of a friend's social support was higher than the perception of frequency and importance of a classmate's social support in both groups of students., {"references":["M. A. Mastropieri a T. E. Scruggs. The Inclusive Classroom. Strategies for Effective Instruction. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, Merrill Prentice Hall, 2007.","Zákon č. 245/2008 Z. z. z 24. mája 2008 o výchove a vzdelávaní (školský zákon).","B. Groven. \"Inclusive education in Norway – core principles, ways and means in a school context\" in Dilemy inkluzívneho procesu v edukácii so zameraním na socializáciu osôb so špeciálnymi potrebami. Hrebeňárová, L., Kožárová, J., Eds. Prešov: Vydavateľstvo Prešovskej univerzity, 2015, pp. 31–42.","V. Lechta a kol. Základy inkluzívnej pedagogiky. 1st ed. Praha: Portál, 2010.","S. Mandzáková a L. Pitoňáková. Pripravenosť učiteľov ZŠ na edukáciu žiakov so špeciálnymi výchovno-vzdelávacími potrebami v podmienkach individuálnej integrácie in Príprava učiteľov elementaristov a európsky mulitukultúrny priestor: zborník. 1st ed. Prešov: Pedagogická fakulta Prešovskej univerzity, 2005.","L. Hrebeňárová a S. Lištiak Mandzáková. Súčasný stav individuálnej integrácie žiakov so špeciálnymi výchovno-vzdelávacími potrebami na prvom stupni základných škôl na Slovensku in Edukace žáků se speciálními vzdělávacími potřebami v. sborník přispěvků. 1st ed. Ostrava: Pedagogická fakulta Ostravské univerzity v Ostravě, 2007, pp. 81-87.","L. Hrebeňárová. Vybrané aspekty edukácie žiakov s ťažkým a hlbokým mentálnym postihnutím. 1st ed. Prešov: Vydaveteľstvo Prešovskej univerzity, 2013.","L. Hrebeňárová. Vzdelávanie žiakov s ťažkým a hlbokým mentálnym postihnutím v základných školách na Slovensku in Perspektivy výzkumu inkluzívneho vzdělávání. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2011, pp. 84-96.","J. Žolnová. Dieťa s problémovým správaním v materskej škole. 1st ed. Prešov: Vydavateľstvo Prešovskej univerzity, Pedagogická fakulta, 2014.\n[10]\tT. Dubayová et al. School success in pupils with special educational needs in Ireland international conference on education (IICE-2014). Dublin: Infonomic society, 2014, pp. 116-119. \n[11]\tJ. Křivohlavý in J. Mareš a S. Ježek. Dotazník sociální opory u dětí a dospívajících. Praha: Institut pedagogicko-psychologického poradenství ČR, 2005. ISBN 80-86856-08-9\n[12]\tJ. Mareš and S. Ježek. Dotazník sociální opory u dětí a dospívajících. Praha: Institut pedagogicko-psychologického poradenství ČR, 2005. ISBN 80-86856-08-9\n[13]\tM. K. Demaray and Ch. K. Malecki. Best practices in Assessing and Promoting Social Support in A. Thomas and P. Harrison (Eds.) Best Practices in School Psychology, 6th ed. Bethesda, MD: National Assosciation of School Psychologist, 2013. \n[14]\tP. A. S. Moreira, H. Bilimória, P. Alvez, M. A. Santos, A. C. Macedo, A. Maia, F. Figueiredo, M. J. Miranda. Subjective wellbeing in students with special educational needs. in Cognition, Brain, Behavior. An Interdisciplinary Journal 2015, Vol. XIX, No. 1 (March), ASCR Publishing House. All rights reserved. ISSN: 1224-8398 pp.75-97.\n[15]\tM. K. Demaray and S. N. Elliot. Perceived social support by children with characteristics of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in School Psychology Quarterly, vol. 16, 2001, pp. 68-90. \n[16]\tCh. K. Malecki and M. K. Demaray. Measuring perceived social support: development of the child and adolescent social support scale (CASSS) in Psychology in the schools, vol. 39 (1), 2002, pp. 1-18."]}