In this thesis of Marieke Werkman, the sensory processing of individuals with autism and an intellectual disability was studied. The aims were to gain insight into: 1) the sensory processing of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and an intellectual disability, and especially its link with emotional and behavioral problems and societal participation, and 2) how autistic individuals could be best included as co-creation partners in a participatory research project. Regarding the first aim we found that a division into subtypes of ASD adds information, especially a division into hypo- and hyperresponsiveness. Regarding this, we found that autistic individuals with a low IQ seem to be more hyporesponsive. Autistic individuals with a high IQ seem to have more emotional and behavioral problems when they experience more sensory processing problems. We found no differences between individuals with a low and high IQ for the association between sensory processing and societal participation. This implies that individuals with autism experience restrictions in their societal participation due to sensory processing problems regardless of IQ. We also did not find an association between IQ and sensory processing in children with autism. There thus seem to be sensory processing problems regardless of IQ.
With regard to the second aim, we found that co-creation with autistic individuals in a research project led to a more fine grained insight into the topic. It is therefore important to include autistic individuals as partners in research. A good balance between structure and flexibility, and logistics that meet their sensory processing needs are important facilitating factors.
