Do autistics need more sleep?

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Feels to me like I'm always short on sleep despite the fact I typically get 8-9 hours per day. Maybe this is just me.

I feel the same way. My late-onset insomnia is certainly the main problem, but even when I manage my routines to suit it, I don't recall ever waking up feeling that I was truly "bright eyed and bushy tailed." When there's no reason not to, I can sleep for 12-15 stretches quite easily.

I've often felt that it's just because my brain is so overloaded that it needs more down-time than other people. Masking, second guessing every social problem, procrastinating about every little decision, constantly buzzing anxious thoughts bouncing around in circles inside my head, suppressing stimming, trying to filter sensory stimuli - all of them take their toll, so it's no wonder if my brain might need a bit more recovery time each day than usual. In the same way, when I have a period of burn-out, or after a melt-down/shut-down, sleeping is all I want to do - it's as much as I can do to be out of my rest-bed long enough to make sure I eat enough, sometimes.

I need more sleep than most so it's a Yes from me although I may have sleep apnea which may account for always feeling tired no matter how long I've slept.

I wouldn't be surprised if we do. Sleep disorders are common for us and due to our usual sensitivity to our environments as well as other people for us to need more sleep to recharge would make sense.

Personally, yes I do need more sleep. I always have needed more in order to function properly. Besides the Aspergers factors and continues, I also have a vision impairment that is an added exhaustion for me. 8-9 hours? Try 10-12. I can get by with the normal 8-9 but unless I'm in high spirits I'm going to be kind of tired.

I absolutely need 11 or more if I'm having "emotional" (stress, anxiety, depression) troubles. When I was in middle school I'd take a day off now and then and sometimes sleep 18 hours.

Usually I need eight hours sleep, plus or minus one hour

And even then I am exhausted

Can't imagine full time job

I go through 10-more hours of sleep here and can easily sleep through things such as an alarm and someone
calling me without any memory of them happening. After waking up, during daylight hours I will often feel
exhausted as if I received no sleep whatsoever, then as the sun sets the tired feeling slowly goes away to
the point of feeling refreshed and fully awake by then.

I underwent a sleep study back in the early 2000s at a sleep centre in London and the only thing they really
found that sticks out in the report is that I have PLMS and I noticed that I only spent 3.6% of my time
asleep in REM and that the normal percentages is 12-20%.

More like autistics tend to have crappier sleep, therefore not as refreshed when waking up even after sleeping in. There are various reasons why though, given that a sleep disorder seem common.
Or 'compensates' by sleeping more, in hopes of getting 'more' restorative sleep.




To me? I'd only need 3 hours of 'good sleep' to function at my best for a day. But for most of my life, I get 6-10 hours of 'bad sleep'.

Once I've hit a jackpot of 7-8 hours of 'good sleep' -- I've been functioning at my 'best' for 4 DAYS STRAIGHT. Those were my best days of my adult life in a job.
It's infuriating, thought I 'grew' and improved, when in reality I've been stuck with some basic need that happened to be defective for most of my life. I hate sleep even more for cheating out of my waking life.
And so... I aim to 'cure' this problem of mine. If I start working around and coping? I might forget it what I already have. I don't want to forget what I actually have.

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Lose more time here - Updates at least once a week.

I also need more sleep than 8-9 hours. I always feel sleepy and tired no matter how much i sleep.

I recently learned that I have been sleep-deprived for decades. I had things to do, so if I felt safe to drive, that was enough. However, it made me grumpy and stupid, so I got less done. Now I'm learning to turn my problems over to the sandman for extra processing. I'm trying to quit the bipolar bursts and maintain a circadian rhythm now.

It is not more total sleep time; but rather, more sleep time in the REM and the Deep sleep state.

Deep sleep is focused on healing the body. If one is ill or under stress, deep sleep helps to repair the damage and vent the stress energy. REM sleep is focused on healing the brain and mind restoration. In some ways, it is analogous to running daily routine computer system maintenance. Memory is consolidated and filed away, issues & lessons learned are recorded.

I have made the following personal observations about the deep sleep phase (the body restoration phase):
* When my body experiences physical stress (such as sickness) or mental stress, and I go to sleep at night, the length of my deep sleep phase increases dramatically (sometimes 2 times normal). This is how my body naturally responds to a greater stress loading.
* Bedtime impacts the length of deep sleep phase. Most individuals have a sleep pattern. Some go to bed early and some like myself late (night owls). But deviation from their established sleep pattern can affect the deep sleep phase. If I go to bed 1½ to 2 hours later than normal and if I also get minimal exercise during the day, the length of my deep sleep phase is substantially reduced to around 1/3 normal which dramatically decreases my body’s restoration process. So it is important to go to bedtime either at normal times or earlier, especially during stressful days.

I have made the following personal observations about the REM sleep phase (the mind restoration phase):
* Sleep research has generally shown that as individual’s age, their sleep patterns change. Sleep time decreases. I am 70 years old and an average person at that age is in REM sleep for 74 minutes per night. My average is around 85.1 minutes of REM sleep, which is a little higher than the norm. But my sleep states are highly variable, sometimes reaching 146 minutes of REM per night. My wife who is an NT and approximately the same age has a sleep pattern that is rock solid and has minimal variability. Her baseline average is around 46 minutes of REM sleep per night. I would attribute my great variability in REM to the fact that even though I am 70, I am constantly learning. It is the way I am built. I still retain the curiosity of a 5 year old.

^ How are you measuring your sleep phases, jimmy? I assume some kind of wearable device, which I've always been a bit skeptical of - but you seem able to correlate your readings with wakeful behaviours, which is the kind of evidence which makes me more inclined to look into it.

I have always been fascinated by dreams. (Who isn't, though?) I have always wanted to figure out a way to continually dream throughout my day. I figured it out. It's called daydreaming. Or spacing out, I suppose. But for real, I used to abuse tylenol pm as a teenager because sleeping was more interesting and enlightening than reality, or consciousness, if you will.
I am golden as long as I go to sleep happy and wake up to the birds chirping, rather than an alarm buzzing or someone forcing me to get to work (ahem, boyfriend and father and everyone else in my life that has ruined many a dreams of mine. If it weren't for you, I'd have probably figured out how to do math.)

Depression and anxiety comorbid with autism


Depression and anxiety overlap with sleep problem


Controlled experiment

I know I need a lot of sleep. I always have. 10-12 hours every night. Insomnia is very rare for me.