Are chronic lateness and sleep problems common with autism?

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And if so, how can I deal with it effectively?

I am always late for everything. I procrastinate everything. It seems no matter what I do I'm always at least a tiny bit late, and if it's not a little it's a lot.

It used to be school. I'd wake up at the last possible second, get to my early morning seminary class 5 to 10 minutes late without fail, and then I'd go to school, and if I wasn't late to class I was late on my assignments. I was always late for something.

More recently it's been work, which is way worse to be late to. I don't know if my bosses have been able to tell I have problems and went easy on me because of it or what, but no matter what kind of incentives or threats they use I'm always late. I'll go through a phase when I first start a job of being very meticulous about my routines so I get there on time. Starting something new is like a reset button. But slowly things just fall apart, I suppose because there are just too many uncertainties in life for me to handle. And rather than have meltdowns or get extremely stressed all the time, I feel like I just slow down, slower and slower, until my eventually my life is going much faster than I can keep up with. Today I was 32 minutes late to work. That's a little more than usual, normally it's closer to 15. But I can't remember the last time I was actually on-time. On a good day I might be 5 minutes late. It's been a while since I was an hour or more late (by "a while" I mean probably a month).

That's not good. And to make it worse (and what is also probably the biggest factor in making it worse) are my sleep problems. I don't even know what the problem is, it seems like a lot of things. For one thing, I feel like I need way more sleep than the average person. I don't know why, but no matter how much I sleep, unless it was a LOT (10-12+ hours) I don't feel well-rested. It's not that I never feel well-rested, but I just need too much sleep to feel that way. But another thing is, unless I feel tired throughout the day, I won't feel tired enough to sleep later, at all. I know they say you have to wind down and stuff, but I can't. There's too much crap going on all the time and I can't go to bed with all that going through my mind unless I'm very tired, and I mean VERY tired. I also just hate the idea of waking up the next day. I don't really know how to describe it other than that I get a feeling of dread when I think about tomorrow, so I have to wait until I can't stay awake.

But I know I still have a general lateness problem not related to being tired. Because this morning I woke up at 0700, even though I went to bed well after midnight. I could have gotten up and gone to work and been there at 0800 like I'm technically supposed to (I talked to the boss and he let me have my start time at 0830 instead). But I just laid there, half-asleep, continually checking the time until it was already past 0830. That was when I finally got up.

And I know some people would say, "You just have to make yourself do it." But I don't think it's a laziness issue. I don't know what it is. But part of me wishes I'd get fired so I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore.

i don't know if this will help at all, but when i can't sleep, i take 3 mg. of melatonin and 1/2 tsp. powdered ginger in warm sweetened water (some say milk is better, but i don't need the calories). if you decide to do this, let your doc know, as both these "natural" supplements tend to be anticoagulants.

I dealt with the same things you have. I think it more of a depression issue then laziness. ask yourself this. Do you ever find yourself wishing that the day would never begin? Do you find that life is not rewarding at all? Do you feel that others (NT's) are getting more out of life then you are? if you answer "yes" to these question. then it's more then likely that autism is affecting you in a indirect way. Autism is not the cause of this in-and-of-itself. But because of the lack of being able to connect and socialize with others. This issue can be cause by depression.

Are Chronic Lateness And Sleep Problems Common With Autism?

That's not a problem it's almost a definition!

L.Holmes, you are not dealing with Aspergers as such here
you are dealing with one of the most horrifying and terrifying co-morbiddities we actually have!

Do you know what a co- morbiddity is?

It's something "as well as", also "caused by"

L. Holmes I am taking it upon myself to diagnose you with ...

Anxiety!

although I recognise I have this condition,
I have never actively pursued it's cause, effect or treatment

L.Holmes, I am going to assign you this task

What is the most successful treatment for anxiety?

(Be warned. there's millions of them!)

I have sleep problems, mostly going to bed and getting up later than I think I ought to.

I have a big anxiety problem about the possibility of being late for things, which is probably why I'm nearly always on time - taking extreme care is the only way I know of reducing the anxiety. I guess the anxiety was originally caused by my experiencing difficulties in meeting deadlines - I find it hard to rush a job, I have to take the time to get it perfect, I get bogged down in details, I misjudge how long things will take, I get focussed on other things and forget the deadline, and if there's anybody else involved, there's usually some missing essential fact I've not been explicitly told about, that will slow the venture down.

It probably is at least partly due to anxiety, and also depression. But what can I do about that? I'm really hate medication. So far everything I've taken for my moods has made me feel very suicidal within weeks. I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to happen.

Sleep problems are common in ASDers -- at least that's what my psychologist says and what I've read.

Chronic lateness is a common sign of executive dysfunction. If it's been a struggle for you to organize yourself to meet deadlines (dates or times) for your entire life no matter how things are going (good, bad, neutral), how you feel, or how hard you try, I'd guess that you probably have issues with executive functioning.

I'm similar. I need an absolute minimum of 9 hours a night or I can't function properly and start building up sleep debt.

It's really common for adolescents and young adults to have increased sleep needs right up to their mid-twenties. You might find that you need less sleep when you're older. (I haven't found that, but I'm the odd one out among people I know.)

Last edited by animalcrackers on 21 Apr 2015, 4:26 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Many autistic people can't fall asleep at night, whether because of sleep problems themselves or perhaps overstimulation throughout the day. The waking up and checking time and procrastinating getting up is a separate problem that is likely related to depression or motivation. If you feel like life is meaningless and have nothing rewarding or interesting to get up for, then it's hard to get up at all.

Has a doctor tested you for any of the numerous, not uncommon things that cause tiredness, things like low iron, or b12, tsh, etc.

SSRIs cause suicidal thoughts in some young people. You shouldn't try them again. SSRIs also mess up dopamine.

I've been suffering chronic insomnia for eight years now.

I agree that it's not laziness. It's executive brain functioning issues.

I found that detoxing salicylate acids via epsom salt lotion on my skin helped improve all of the things you're describing.