Bewustzijn van prikkelverwerkingsproblematiek bij mensen met het autisme spectrum stoornis en het mogelijke verband met self-efficacy en participatie

Sensory processing difficulties are common in Autism Spectrum Disorders(ASD’s) and there has been a lot of research on this topic. The awareness of sensory processing difficulties is not that much studied. The current study explores the degree to which people with autism are aware of sensory processing difficulties. Interviews were used to assess the awareness. The relationship between sensory processing, self-efficacy and participation is also explored. To assess the relationship between these three variables, questionnaires about self-efficacy, sensory processing and participation were used. The results of the current study demonstrated that in fact 90% of parents are aware of the sensory processing difficulties of their children with autism. 70% of people with autism themselves are aware of these difficulties. In contrast, only 40% of people with autism who look back tot their childhood were at that time aware of these difficulties. So, children are least aware of sensory processing difficulties according to the current study. Furthermore, there seems to be a relationship between self-efficacy, sensory processing and participation. Self-efficacy seems to yield a relationship with more sensory processing difficulties and these sensory processing difficulties seems to yield a relationship with a lower degree of participation. Finally, the results suggest that people with autism underestimates themselves with respect to self-efficacy.