Awake all night, sleeping all day?

This sounds hard. My son has gone through these and though I'm a single mum working for myself, have just cut everything else out of my schedule to help him when he has these moments. He's 25 and recently went through a break up and I did the same.

When he was young I'd read to him until he fell asleep. But in his teens I started taking him to a therapist to get used to talking through problems with a professional. At first he disliked it, but got used to it. By university, he was booking his own appointments and eventually realised it was healthy.

I wasn't raised in an environment where I could openly talk about what I was trying to sort though, as my mother would either become offended or horrified. My brain didn't work like hers. And late at night a surmounting pile of *every unresolved thing of the day* was screaming at me in my head to be worked though. My grandmother used to tell me that unresolved issues with my grandfather would keep her up all night and she never knew why. Well, I know why. Autists are wired to catch details, to make hyper connexions, to see things others cannot. We are systems builders. We can be incredibly gifted and useful in society with this ability, but like all talents, it is in severe need of disciplines. And here's the catch: we might  also have difficulty with language, so internally I can make a graph, image, envision systems and exchanges, but when I was younger I failed to identify what I was seeing. This made the calculating so much worse! At the end of the day there was an onslaught of puzzles demanding to be solved. World chaos, personal conflicts, things which need to be put down in lists lest I forget, compartmentalised - and this doesn't just turn off. This is the downside.

I have notebooks now. It became imperative to write. First thing in the morning and also before bed. A  spiral notebook of things to do - never tear out pages, just cross the item off the list and store away when full. A notebook for dietary and sensory issues to remind myself. A notebook for outfits I like to wear because it's impossible to work this out (spend a day trying things on, take photos even and keep these. It's easier when it's on paper.

But this was only a start. I needed to understand how the world functioned. The ethics and morals in society, wise thoughtful ways to engage, respond, grow. And I always need a great unforced space of time in a bookstore to find a new author. My son finds a better schedule when he reads a physical book (away from the LED of the phone). I play sudoku to shut down - again on paper. But when he's going through times of stress, I help him identify what feeling he may be experiencing, sit with him until he falls asleep.

LEDs can be harmful all around. My house is mostly halogen lighting, though salt lamps break up LEDs and don't let blue light keep us up. Check out https://lightaware.org. Changing this can solve one problem. During the day, try maybe a multi vitamin and something like a light half dose of ashwaganda for hormone/sleep regulation. Assume she's jetlegged. Gently work her back to a better time zone in slow increments by maybe starting out the morning with a walk. But try to stop screens an hour before bed.

And perhaps, go to an art supply shop and let her try out different pencils / pens, find a few writing books. Nothing like magical tools for inspiring a new journey!