Introduction. Social support plays an extremely important role in a situation where a problem of child disability in the family occurs. The type of social support should be adapted to the unique needs of the family. The individualized approach (to parent and child) results from the necessity to take into account factors that differentiate families, such as the child’s state of health, or the degree of his disability. Help provided to parents effectively stimulates their caring potential, which can be used in the care process for a child with a disability, but also for a healthy child. Aim. The aim of the study was to evaluate the types of social support received by parents of children with disabilities and parents of healthy children. Material and methods. In the study participated 243 parents raising children with disabilities and 264 parents of healthy children. In the study the estimation method and the standardized research tool Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviors developed by Barrera, Sandler and Ramsay were used. Results. Parents from both research groups received emotional and esteem support the most often, and informational and tangible support the least frequently. Parents of healthy children received significantly more frequent informational (p = 0.011) and esteem (p = 0.002) support, than parents of children with disabilities. Conclusions. The study shows that parents of children with disabilities and parents of healthy children rarely receive financial support from others. Parents from both research groups declared a deficit in informational support.

Key words: social support, family, child with disabilities.