Regarding Sleeping Positions

Post Reply New Topic

Recently i have been noticing that i pretty much sleep in only one position; Laying on my right side with my back against the wall, my right arm partially extended, my left arm wherever and my right leg extended with my left foot resting on or near the ankle.

I'm wondering if other with Asperger's Syndrome sleep in the same, or only one position and so i decided to ask here out of my curiosity.

Last edited by Fibbox on 10 Aug 2014, 3:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I sleep in one position and must stay in that position in order to fall asleep. I sleep on my left side with my back towards the wall. I have my legs straight and my left arm underneath my pillow so that the pillow presses against my cheek, and my right up beside my face. My right arm and legs are wrapped in the duvet individually to avoid skin contact between any of my limbs as skin contact is unpleasant and sometimes painful for me. My legs are also in certain positions and always in those positions.

I have no idea if the sleeping position has anything to do with autism. Not wanting to change something once it's fixed is an autistic trait that might be relevant to it.

I usually lie on my stomach with my arms under the pillow to fall asleep. I could sometimes fall asleep on either of my sides, too. Never on my back. I don't sleep on the bed. I use a bean bag instead of a bed. That's because I need my upper body to be much higher than my lower body to feel comfortable. Bean bags are very good because you can change and keep a particular shape to suit your body. It's a habit that I developed as a kid when I had pretty bad asthma and needed to sleep on my stomach with my upper body resting on a huge pillow so that I could breathe easily.

Most of the time I sleep on my left side, back to wall, both hands tucked under my chin, as in fetal but unlike fetal I have my legs out straight. They say sleep positions reveal personality type (which may be a myth) but I was unable to find any info on fetal arms with straight legs.

Sometimes I have to switch sides because this creates a lot of pressure on my left shoulder. If I lie on my back, there's much less pressure on my joints, just one problem, resting on the back of my head just feels wrong and I want to lie with my head twisted 90 degrees. If I had a portal gun I could lie on my back with my left cheek against the pillow. Sometimes in the summer I'll sleep on my stomach.

I'm not entirely sure what position I normally sleep, in since I sleep alone. I read somewhere that it's not healthy to sleep on your stomach but that's what's most comfortable for me. I often lay very with the top part of my body very close to the edge of my bed, sometimes with my arms or hands partly over the edge, or I may squeeze my pillow... or a stuffed animal.

I also sleep in only one position and I stay in that position all night long. A few years ago I even got a little bed sore from my habit, and I had to make little adjustments and carefully nurse it away over a few weeks.

I never heard anything about associating particular sleeping positions with autism so I would be skeptical. Even NTs have favourite sleeping positions...


I like to sleep on my right side (due to a bad left shoulder, it hurts to sleep on it) with my legs outstretched, and my right arm flung behind my back, leaving my side exposed. It's a weird position but it's what is most comfortable to me. I also like to sleep on my back. Generally I don't change positions when sleeping.

I used to sleep as if I were a corpse laid out in a coffin. With speech therapy, counseling, good meds, and a lot of trusting, I sleep more normally.

I sleep in a fetal position with a pillow between my knees.

Flat on my stomach, spread out like a starfish.

I sleep on my left side. Sometimes I will try to go to sleep in other positions but it's not as comfortable and I always wake up on my left side anyway.

face down to one side. I'm comfortable on my back to a point but then get the urge to turn over, a few times I have had sleep paralysis when I have slept on my back instead of front. When I was a child I remember I used to sleep with my hands pressed between my legs, wouldn't be surprised if that was an autism thing, liking the pressure or something.

I literally cannot fall asleep on my back. It is very uncomfortable for me. The only comfortable position is on my stomach. but I have to have my head to one side or the other.

In Junior. Kindergarten we were instructed at nap time to lay on our backs and I could never do it, I have always been a side sleeper, arms and legs out somewhere, I toss and turn a lot, adjusting pillows and blankets until I fall asleep. I usually can't hold sleeping positions for long without falling asleep. I am a slim person so my sleeping positions are also largely determinated by not stretching skin over my bones(rib, shoulder and pelvic bones especially), that feeling drives me crazy then I can't sleep.

Last edited by rapidroy on 13 Aug 2014, 11:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I am a tummy sleeper myself and one of the things I do to enable me to sleep on my back is to make a sandbag and use it as a weight. When i go to bed at night. I lay on my back and roll the sandbag on to my chest and stomach area. works like a dream.(no pun intended.)

I'm fond of sleeping on my stomach with my arms wrapped around the pillow. It's a nice substitute for a hug.