Autism and Sleep

Happy Friday Everyone

Cassie is a firm believer in proper sleep hygiene and I am finding that even though I am more of a night owl, I am slowly changing my sleep habits for the better. She was apalled at the late hours my children sometimes keep and suggested that maybe my son, who suffers from frequent colds, would benefit with more sleep. All well and good if there was a way to make him go to bed earlier without the nightly ritual of having to get something to eat or drink or tell me something he forgot to mention earlier. My teenage daughter, who has Asperger's, seems to be able to get by on the minimum amount of sleep and still function properly but that is not always the way with kids on the spectrum. Many have sleeping difficulties and find it not only difficult to fall asleep but also to stay asleep.

An extreme example was a child I read about in a Discovery magazine article, who had to sleep standing up leaning against his dresser because he had so much discomfort at night that was the only way he could get any rest.

All the best

Monicka