• Replies 5 replies
  • Subscribers 31 subscribers
  • Views 1442 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Autistics & Sleep: night-time wind down

EmilyW

Do any other autistics out there struggle to wind down for bed?

I love sleeping, I sleep well and often nap during the day, but something always seems to stop me at night. I find myself lying in bed for hours on my phone or procrastinating in some other way, and can’t break out of this stage. It always happens before I use the bathroom, and I hate brushing my teeth (though no idea why!) so maybe this is a factor? 

Maybe it’s something to do with autistic inertia? Does anyone else experience this? How do you combat it?

Thanks!

Parents

  • Hi there,

    I'm pretty much the same as you described. 

    Since I can remember, I've needed some sort of noise to sleep. It used to be books on tape, then the TV, and now I play the same show/s on my phone with headphones. 

    My wife falls asleep in a "typical" way. I like to wind down on my phone and then add the noise when I feel my eyes become droopy. 

    Nighttime is an intensely creative time for me and my brain is very active processing the day but also indulging my special interests (mostly electronics and 3D printing) either in my imagination or on my phone. This is usually the first quiet period of my day so it's really helpful to process or problem solve. The downside to this is I can become energised and not want to sleep. I can become obsessed with pursuing my thought or idea or design until I can't any longer. 

    I haven't found a solution yet except as described above. I find being on my phone before I sleep decreases the quality of my sleep, which can mean I wake up less rested, even after eight hours. 

    Something I just started doing is making lists and capturing thoughts in the Notion app as a second brain. This way I'm not as burdened with trying to remember these things throughout the day but especially when I'm trying to sleep. 

    J

Reply

  • Hi there,

    I'm pretty much the same as you described. 

    Since I can remember, I've needed some sort of noise to sleep. It used to be books on tape, then the TV, and now I play the same show/s on my phone with headphones. 

    My wife falls asleep in a "typical" way. I like to wind down on my phone and then add the noise when I feel my eyes become droopy. 

    Nighttime is an intensely creative time for me and my brain is very active processing the day but also indulging my special interests (mostly electronics and 3D printing) either in my imagination or on my phone. This is usually the first quiet period of my day so it's really helpful to process or problem solve. The downside to this is I can become energised and not want to sleep. I can become obsessed with pursuing my thought or idea or design until I can't any longer. 

    I haven't found a solution yet except as described above. I find being on my phone before I sleep decreases the quality of my sleep, which can mean I wake up less rested, even after eight hours. 

    Something I just started doing is making lists and capturing thoughts in the Notion app as a second brain. This way I'm not as burdened with trying to remember these things throughout the day but especially when I'm trying to sleep. 

    J

Children
No Data