Sleep Deprivation in Asperger Syndrome

Many factors affect the mood and behaviors of a child or youth with Asperger Syndrome and sleep deprivation is definitely a major factor. Coping with daily life can be a struggle for neurotypical people suffering from sleep deprivation causing edginess, impatience and depression. For the child or youth with Asperger Syndrome, these side effects are magnified and interfere with their ability to function.

My son with Asperger Syndrome has not had enough sleep since birth. In fact, that is one of the first things I noticed about him. He never went down for a two hour nap, ever. I was lucky if he slept for 45 minutes. My second son, who is neurotypical, would have a four hour nap and I often wondered why they were so different in terms of sleep requirements. I can remember walking the floor at 11:00 at night for many months trying to convince this tiny baby that he really needed to go to sleep.

Not much has changed in the last 12 years. I am still trying to convince my son that he needs to go to sleep in order to function the next day and he still is wide awake at 11:00 at night. Although he is often tired and draggy throughout the day, he seems to perk up right after dinner - almost as if he has a different circadian rhythm than the rest of the family. When the rest of us are tired and want to relax, he is raring to go, full of energy and very conversational. This being "out of sync" is apparently common in children and youth with Asperger Syndrome due to their neurological differences and while this factor affects their school performance because school starts so early in the day, as an adult shift work becomes very attractive to them.

If you would like to try some sleep deprivation remedies, here are some suggestions.

1. Caffeine before bed is not a neurotypical person's choice because it will keep them awake all night. However, for the child or adult with any type of Autism or Asperger Syndrome, caffeine is known to have a calming effect.

2. Camomile Tea - this is supposed to be very calming. However, you do have to be cautious if your child has Asthma as camomile is related to ragweed and can set off an asthma attack.

3. Warm milk and honey - this is also supposed to be very calming. The extra amino acids in the milk produce a feeling of sleepiness. I didn't find that this one worked at all.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic