Does Anybody With ASD Need An Afternoon Nap

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Does anyone with ASD need an afternoon nap to recharge?
If you work and have to skip your afternoon nap do you sleep more on the weekend?

I take an afternoon nap on most days that I don't work.

I barely sleep during the night, never mind the day. I think that's probably more typical of people with ASD than sleeping during the day (protip: proof-by-exmaple is a fallacious argument). I don't really see anything in the diagnostic criteria for ASD that alludes to sleeping during the day.

Oh yes, I have to have a nap every day, if I can. It's partly become habit, but is also needed, and I like doing it too. It's my way of 'meditating', or a relaxation. It doesn't seem to affect my night sleep either.

I could use one, yup.



I'd prefer not to mess up my sleep schedule though, lol. Seems that I take a 20 minute nap mid-day and magically that's equivalent to a whole day's sleep considering I'm wide awake for the rest of the night. Oh well.

I'm always busy doing something but I get very sleepy in the afternoons. Like poor-coordination, pale, eyes trying to close on me tired. Not sure if it's an AS thing for me though, Mum says it's because I don't eat enough, which is a fair point.

There's no way I can sleep during the day, unless I'm very ill.
But I do have some 'down time' in the afternoon where I'll lie on the couch and contemplate the ceiling for half an hour or so.
Even robots need a recharge.

When I was 17 and in Sixth Form at school, meaning that I wasn't in school for every lesson and often had entire afternoons off or a few hours between classes, I frequently had to go home and nap.

I realise now that it was stress-related. I had too much going on and was shutting down.

I am constantly tired, though, even now. I still struggle a lot with energy levels and handling some relatively simple things. I could easily sleep for 12 hours and feel no better for it, needing much longer ideally. I cannot remember ever feeling properly refreshed.

My husband used to urge me to visit the doctor because he was amazed that anyone could need sleep as much as I do. I realise now that it probably is an ASD thing - I'm ready to collapse at 7pm if my daughter's been difficult during the day, or if I've had to do chores and cleaning around the house. On easy days, I can manage much better (though I still wouldn't say no to the chance to lie in until lunch time the next morning. A girl can dream!).

Most people do. That is why in certain countries a 2 hour workday siesta is the norm. For Autistics trying to operate in an NT world is mentally draining so we probably need it more.

Yes, I sometimes feel really tired throughout the day. There have been times when I would take a nap right after I got home from work and sleep for about 3 or 4 hours. Then by the time I would wake up it would almost be time to get ready for bed.

If I don't get much sleep I get more clumsy and can't seem to communicate or function as well.

Auuuuggggghhhhh!

Stop, you're triggering me ... * yawn *

zzzzzzzzz .....