Fatigue: Is it a Common Symptom in Children With ASDs?

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My 14yo son seems to "run down" during the last couple periods in school, to the point where it interferes with getting work done and turned in and generally contributes to poor academic performance. I am wondering if this could be a manifestation of his diagnosis.

As a follow-up question to parents familiar with IEPs, can you think of any accomodations that might help assist with fatigue interfering with academic performance? Thanks much for any insights!

Yes, well, I relate. I get physically and mentally exhausted easily. I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue but really I think it's an ASD/ADD thing.
I had this problem in school so much, that I was taken out of public school to be home schooled. Then my mum couldn't handle me, so I went a private school that gave me 5 times more workload, which made things worse.
Even in college courses if they were more than four hours I get exhausted.

Good luck with your son. I know nothing about IEPs unfortunately.

Good luck with your son.

I can totally relate..I had regular bouts of fatigue coupled with a wonky sleep schedule..

Thank you very much pensieve, cockneyrebel, and poopylungstuffing, for sharing, your insights are very helpful to me

BTW, poopylungstuffing, I your youtube videos and your original songs, and I think you have the sweetest singing voice.

I don't know, maybe you can have a time set during the middle of the day for a break away from everything else?

I've had very low energy all throughout my life. In the past few years though, I've had actual insomnia. Do you know if your son has any trouble sleeping?

Not a parent, so I can't help you with that, but I can at least guess why your son gets tired. After a very stressful day at work last summer (the children from hell had a birthday party), I came home and completely shut down. I couldn't talk without a huge amount of effort (I could converse on Gmail easily, it was only with spoken communication). I think this happened because I had to expend so much effort being social and nice and hiding my annoyance with both the kids and the moms who I was making margaritas so they could better ignore their kids.

It could be the social aspects of school that are wearing your son down; he may find interacting with people as tiring normally as I did that day.

Also, just in case I came off as angry in that first paragraph, I really like people. Just not the demon children.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But he's consistently tired at the end of school.



Thanks pat2rome, I think this makes a lot of sense to me and is probably what's going on. I don't think you came off angry. I've read many of your other posts and generally find them intelligent and witty.

I was going to post something similar to this, because though I am not in school anymore, since around 9th grade I have had major issues with this. I have been tested for medical issues that would make me tired, taken off any medications I had been on that had side effects of drowsiness and since then careful about any medications i've taken for anything that could have that side effect. Still, the second I get home from work, the first thing I wanna do is sleep. I generally don't sleep well at night however, this is an issue for me whether i've slept or not. For example, I could sleep 1 hour a night, or eight hours a night, and still I can come home and pass out for up to another 8 hours... I've tried thinking in the sense that i'm maybe just bored? On days (like this week, when I have off from work) where I don't have places to go during the day, it's ten times harder to stay awake because in the back of my mind, I know that I don't need to stay awake. When I DO have things to do (either work, or social outings that obviously I need to be awake for), I can do so without a problem. But as soon as I get home, I still sleep right away. I have many hobbies and interests, but when I'm fatigued like this, I pick sleep over any of them. I don't consider myself to be depressed right now... I've dealt with many years of depression and I'm relatively happy these days. I don't know what it is I am attempting to shut out, but if anyone has any tips on what they do to motivate themselves to stay awake, and to avoid the tired feeling, I'd love to hear ideas!

And about your son, I'd say before making accommodations it would help greatly if you found out why he is having the fatigue. I know several people on the spectrum besides myself, who shut down. Sometimes we can't figure out why, sometimes we can. If he is verbal, maybe ask if those classes are less interesting to him, or perhaps even more difficult? Are the classes taught differently than his earlier ones (more student participation? less hands on? More tests, quizzes or essays that could trigger anxiety and lead to a shut down?) Could the food he is eating at lunch be something that he is allergic to? I have a close friend who has food allergies which is not uncommon to those with ASDs. And like some people get hives when they eat nuts, she experiences fatigue after eating dairy foods. Could it be that by that time he is just worn out? Does he transition between classes, and could those specific transitions be more overwhelming that he feels the need to shut down (for example, a different hallway, seeing different kids, etc.)? Are the other students in the classes he is experiencing the fatigue in overwhelming him? Is he anxious about the work being given? There could be different reasons for it, which could result in different things needing to be done to help him out. I hope I helped in some manner. I'd be curious to know if you're able to pinpoint why it was happening, as then it would be a lot easier to come up with accommodations and I would be more than happy to suggest some things!

One of the reasons i had such a hard time doing homework when I was in school was that every day after school I had to recover from it for several hours...which would fly by in a blur of inertia..I also would have a habit of shutting down in unfamiliar settings...I spent the weekend at the house of my mom's older sister, who I don't know very well...and i spent almost the entire time passed out on the couch..She was FURIOUS...and I do believe that was the last time I ever saw her..)

Even as a young adult, I had a serious habit of passing out whenever i was taken over to someone's house on a social visit because i was not stimulated by that kind of social discourse..

Well, is this fatigue physical or mental?

Mental fatigue is where you come home from school/work, and just feel so drained that all you want to do is just sleep, or at the most lay down on the couch and watch TV. This is fairly common amongst autistic people and results in the stress and difficulty associated with just dealing with the world all day long.

Physical fatigue is where you want to do something, but your body just feels too tired to do it. Its not that you want to fall asleep, you just don't have the energy to do anything else. This is not associated with autism directly, but is still possible. This could be the result of not getting enough good sleep last night (which can be due to stress, too much caffeine, etc.) It could also be due to metabolic issues, or lack of heart strength, or any number of other physical ailment.

My brother (diagnosed Aspergers) is the same way with passing out in uncomfortable places. When we go to places where he feels outcasted or just anxious about the other people there (even family members we see regularly), he will turn the tv on, and tune out or simply sleep, shutting everything out. A friend of mine does this as well. I think it's fairly common.

I always get that "fatigue". I used to think that it was due to inadequate sleep, but then I've noticed that I don't get it when I spend my entire days at home and mostly by myself. Then I've realized that it's not real fatigue but a manifestation of sensory overload.

I bunch mental and physical fatigue together..one begets the other...the fatigue from sensory overload most particularly.

I have always been very fatigued. My teachers noticed it as far back as 1st Grade.