Page 90 - Social networks of people with mild intellectual disabilities: characteristics and interventions

Chapter 4
(e.g. acquaintances dwelling more in the neighbourhood, feeling good, having more elbow-room for personal things). Jessica, a 23 years old woman with ID said, concerning better contact with friends:
More real life contact would be nice. I do have contact via MSN, but I would like more normal [face-to-face] contact.
Regarding their network of acquaintances, people with ASD, more often than people with ID, said they wished to expand their network, for instance with a partner. Elizabeth, a 35 year old woman with ASD told us how difficult it is to get to know more people:
I long for many more contacts, but there is so much fear if someone actually comes closer that you clam up and it usually goes wrong again ... To say things wrong. Not to respond in time. Not to have an answer when it is expected from you.
4.4 Discussion
This study provides a comprehensive comparison of the perceptions of people with mild ID, people with ASD and a reference group towards their social networks. We first discuss the hypothesis that the social networks of people with ASD or ID are smaller, and then describe both the similarities and the specific characteristics of the networks of both groups. We finish with a discussion of the implications and limitations of our findings.
4.4.1 The networks of people with ASD and mild ID: size, similarities, specific characteristics
Size was investigated using an ecogram (i.e. outline of all acquaintances and professional network members) and the MSNA. People with ID and people with ASD had less network members on their ecograms compared to the REFgroup, showing that their networks are more restricted. This is in line with previous research showing that the networks of people with ID are generally small (e.g. Lippold & Burns, 2009; Robertson et al., 2001; Verdonschot et al., 2009) and that adults with ASD have fewer friendships (e.g. Howlin et al., 2004; Orsmond
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