Autism and Sleeping

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I've noticed from personal observation that the autistics around me (Myself, and my brother) have various sleeping disorders. My brother (His profile is Name_is_loading) has Hypersomnia. While I myself have chronic insomnia... I've Researched and can't find much information. I think this is mostly due to sensory issues... Can someone like confirm or deny my Hypothesis?

put me in the insomnia category I have to drug my self in order to get any type of sleep and have issues staying awake during the day no matter how long I sleep for from what I've been told those whom are on the spectrum have some issues getting to sleep in a normal fashion.

Sleep drugs never work for me, when I get up,I tend to stay up. Also I can really tell if I'm sleepy or tired. I might be Mind-Blind. Only if they are extreme..

I use a special weighted blanket in order to sleep thru the night. It gives my senses the input they need so that I can remain asleep thru the night. It wasn't cheap, but its worth its weight in gold for the nights rest I get. Mike

I sleep well most of the time, just not very much. I have slept an average of 6hrs a night since the age of 13, if not earlier. Yes, that does mean that sometimes I only get 4 hrs. I don't consider it insomnia because 1) it is my usual pattern, and 2) I don't feel tired. I just *bing* wake up. I do so without an alarm clock. I might have a slump in the afternoon and need some coffee, but I do not usually need a nap. Then at night, I fall asleep in seconds (as soon as the blankets and pillows are arranged properly, that is.)

I am awake or I am not. And I mean wide awake or sound asleep. I wake up ready to go. I fall asleep with almost no preparation. If I read a book in bed, it is because I *want* to, not because I am trying to relax to fall asleep.

However, if I am tired, I have the uncanny ability to sleep anywhere at any time. It does not matter how uncomfortable the sleeping situation or the amount of noise or the time of day. It's really weird.

My dad is the same way.

I don't sleep at all without my medication now. But I would have had to have slept a bit before I started taking it.

I used to wake up lots. Now I sleep through and find it difficult to wake up. But I've always found it exceptionally difficult to get to sleep. My brain just doesn't want to shut off. I can't sleep if there's any light, or noise. I can't sleep if I'm too cold (pretty normal, I think), but I also can't sleep if I'm too hot - which is a problem because I really struggle if I don't have something on me.

As a child I struggled to sleep if my pj material wasn't just right, but now I've eliminated that by not wearing any at all.

I looked into those they looked rather expensive. I wonder if I could do it to my own blanket.

I struggle to fall asleep if there is any kind of noise, I have to wear earplugs and block any light. On the other hand, even if I have had sleep I take forever to wake up and in some cases never feel fully awake. Just constantly groggy and tired all the time. It's quite frustrating.

I've had a backwards sleep schedule for a long time (awake at night, sleep during the day) because I feel more awake at night. I'm not sure why. I prefer the dark, and it's less of a sensory overload so maybe it doesn't drain me as much? I've tried to have a normal schedule for the past week and it's been awful. I feel like a zombie.

I've always wanted to try a weighted blanket but indeed they are expensive.

I don't know, I sleep like a rock almost every night. Unless I'm obsessing over something in particular. However I have a manual labor job that really drains me. I get up at the same time every morning, subsequently I fall asleep around the same time every night. Routine = great sleep.

When I was a teenager though, I slept during the day and stayed awake all night - for reasons I don't know

I don't know how hot weighted blankets get because I've never used one. I also don't know exactly how heavy they are. But, what feels good and heavy to me is an afghan I crocheted myself which I place under a quilt. Quilts are heavier than regular bed spreads, but they aren't so cozy because they can be a little stiff. The afghan, though, conforms nicely to the body. Together, they provide a lot of weight (for my taste) as well as coziness. The afghan is single-crochet stitch so it is tightly woven, no big gaps like there in some kinds of afghans.

I will sometimes take the afghan off the bed if I need a heavy blanket somewhere else. But, normally, if I am awake and need something weighted, my bathrobe does the trick.

i have insomnia too, always have. I take Trazadone just so I can have more that 4 hours. I usually take one or two blankets and wind them around me like a burrito. The resulting pressure might almost be like a weighted blanket.

I've been thinking about trying to make a weighted blanket... there are some patterns for them on some blogs, although I'm trying to figure out how one would make sure a sewing machine needle doesn't hit a poly pellet and break. Still trying to decide which pattern to follow.

Yes, I think that's true. I've heard alot of people have various sleep problems. The sleep studies I've had were really abnormal, so much so that my pulmonologist gave a presentation to other doctors about my case. I'm on oxygen at night and have central apnea as well as an abnormal breathing pattern both during sleep and while awake. My EEG shows Delta waves even before I fall asleep, and I have sleep Myoclonus. This was so severe it was keeping me awake all night. I saw a neurologist who put me on Keppra and that helped considerably. Now it happens the first few times I try to go to sleep but then stops.

This is how I am except that I can fall asleep with certain noises, but it might take a while. I cannot have any light, I generally can't have noise but some are unavoidable so I have to deal with them, I feel a lot better, more awake and creative, with an almost nocturnal sleep pattern (stay up until 6-7 am then sleep until I wake up). Because of my job I've had try to switch it and its been months and I still can't fall asleep before 2 am. One weekends I easily stay up until 6 again, which isn't good for trying to keep a switched schedule, but I loose track of time easily. I also feel like one of the undead from lack of good sleep. No matter when I fall asleep I am horrible at waking up, but trying to switch to waking in the morning has make it a lot worse.

I've had sleep problems since I was a baby. I believe they are partially caused by sensory issues. I have trouble filtering out noise and feeling physically comfortable.

I have chronic insomnia. I often have too much energy and my mind is too active. I do not usually get tired by having an exciting or eventful day. Instead I cannot sleep because my mind and body will not wind down.

I believe that people with ASD often have sleep problems.

I just know from here and school, that it's pretty common for people on the spectrum to have sleep issues. I go in cycles from insomnia, to normal, to hypersomnia.

I always stay up late at night, mainly because I don't want to miss anything and that I do my best work at night.