Autistic Children and Sleep Problems
ASPartOfMe
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Why do children with autism struggle to sleep?
A new research study from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s National Autism Research Center in Israel has found that brain waves of children with autism are shallower, particularly during the first part of the night, indicating why they have difficulty falling into a deep, rejuvenating sleep.
Not only do they have a hard time falling asleep, but this large percentage also wake up frequently in the middle of the night and wake up early in the morning.
Previous studies have shown that because of the sleep disturbance, severe challenges are created for the children and their families.
A team led by Prof. Ilan Dinstein, head of the Autism Research Center and a member of BGU’s Department of Psychology, examined the brain activity of 29 children with autism and compared them to 23 children without autism.
The children’s brain activity was recorded as they slept during an entire night in the Sleep Lab at Soroka University Medical Center, managed by Prof. Ariel Tarasiuk.
According to the researchers, normal sleep starts with periods of deep sleep that are characterized by high amplitude slow brain waves.
“The recordings revealed that the brain waves of children with autism are, on average 25% weaker (shallower) than those of typically developing children, indicating that they have trouble entering deep sleep, which is the most critical aspect of achieving a restful and rejuvenating sleep experience,” the study found.
Speaking to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, Dinstein said that the importance of this study is that “this EEG [Electroencephalography] measure tells us something about the mechanism of why the children are having trouble sleeping.” An EEG is an electrophysiological monitoring method to record electrical activity of the brain.
“Finding the solutions that will help these children sleep better will require more research that we are starting to carry out this year,” he explained. “Potential alternatives include increased physical exercise, behavioral interventions that regulate sleep habits, and pharmacological interventions.
“All of these options need to be tested carefully,” Dinstein said.
He pointed out that deep sleep is a complicated state that is governed by a variety of hormones and other factors.
“Imbalances in any of these factors could create a situation where some of the children with autism do not fall into deep sleep,” Dinstein told the Post. “Nevertheless, we do not have a handle or measure for identifying a sub-group of children with a particular type of sleep difficulty. “This is important, because these children will likely need a specific solution – one that we have yet to identify,” he said.
Dinstein further explained that it appears that children with autism, and especially those whose parents reported serious sleep issues, “do not tire themselves out enough during the day, do not develop enough pressure to sleep, and do not sleep as deeply,” adding that they also found a clear relationship between “the severity of sleep disturbances as reported by the parents and the reduction in sleep depth.
“Children with more serious sleep issues showed brain activity that indicated more shallow and superficial sleep.” he added.
With the team now identifying the potential physiology underlying these sleep difficulties, they are planning several follow-up studies to discover ways to generate deeper sleep and larger brain waves, from increasing physical activity during the day to behavioral therapies, and pharmacological alternatives such as medical cannabis.
The research was supported by the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative and was published recently in the journal SLEEP.
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Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity
It is Autism Acceptance Month
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
Never enjoyed sleep for most of my life and very likely had severe sleep issues.
But then there was those rare times that effects of sleep problems didn't 'happened' and saw a lot of serious differences with it.
That's when I realized that I was conditioned to think that unhealthy sleep is 'normal', that I've been missing something out for most of my life and it's not the world's been 'cheating' on me but it's my 'unresolved' and turned less reliable body to cope with.
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dragonsanddemons
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I too have had lifelong sleep issues. Without meds (I'm currently on 10mg melatonin and 50mg doxepin, which combined allow me to actually get some sleep), I'm lucky to get half an hour of sleep and oftentimes get none. With meds I still have trouble both falling asleep and staying asleep. I can't remember ever having awakened feeling rested even once in my life, I always wake up ready to go right back to sleep.
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Yet in my new wildness and freedom I almost welcome the bitterness of alienage. For although nepenthe has calmed me, I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.
-H. P. Lovecraft, "The Outsider"
During deep sleep, memories are consolidated, learning and emotions process, physical recovery takes place, blood sugar levels and metabolism balance out, your immune system is energized, and your brain detoxifies. Without deep sleep, these functions cannot take place and the symptoms of sleep deprivation kick in.
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Author of Practical Preparations for a Coronavirus Pandemic.
A very unique plan. As Dr. Paul Thompson wrote, "This is the very best paper on the virus I have ever seen."
A few years ago I asked my father how I was when very young . As it was nearly 60 years before his recall was patchy. One thing he did say was
I'm still far more likely to go to bed late than not. I'm prone to initial insomnia .
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