Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, I am new to the site and have joined to seek out other peoples experiences with there teenagers with ASD. My son is 16 years old and has High Functioning ASD. We are also working on the basis of PDA as well. He is not currently attending school due to Anxiety issues with it being his final year there. Had the same pattern with Junior school as well. Currently he seems very happy, usual teenager boy things of not wanting to wash and personal hygiene issues but nothing to worry about. Only issue we have he he doesn't want to, and will not get up till around 4pm most days. He will then stay wake all night and some times all days the next day as well. He is suffering a lot with Insomnia and this is causing all kinds of problems with his routine. He is not showing signs of anger or aggression but if we push him to much or set to many rules or punishments he will just storm out the house for several hours. We are trying to find things (through discussions with him) purposes for him to get up but when it comes to the time he just refuses to get up. We have considered depression but when he's up he is happy, when his friends are round he is happy, he is chatty with us, can explain how he is feeling but will then just refuse to get up again until it suits him. What are other peoples experiences of teens with ASD and how did you find dealt with the situation best?
Hey Mini, speaking as a high functional myself, I can relate extremely well with your lad. Insomnia for whatever reason dogged and still dogs me, and I'm pushing towards thirty at this point, not to be all doom and gloom, but there's really no easy fix in place.
Couple questions, beyond the autism, has he been diagnosed with anything like ADHD or similar strains of that syndrome?
Being out of schooling, has he managed to set himself a routine that suits him, or he slid into by chance? Eg, say a period of a couple months of this sleeping late and burning the candle into the early hours?
And lastly and probably the most obvious, had he saw anyone in regards to medicating the sleeping issues? Personally, I was on melatonin tablets for nearly twenty years straight, helped slow me down and eventually get me to sleep, but again, waking up is quite the pain with these. All natural these things, the tablets, but they'll only work for so long before he'd adapt and need a weeks break to gain the benefit again.
Heh, reading this back after writing, it almost seems like I'm pushing tablets, no. Again, this all comes down to whether he's been seen to treat the apparent insomnia, if he isn't, then yeah, problems are bound to happen. Apologies if this post is a bit disconnected here and there, but I've been awake since, say, six last night and it's pushing twelve in the afternoon, ain't not easy fix when it comes to this stuff I'm afraid. Really screws with our attempts to create a routine and lord knows us Aspies don't like that.
Tl;dr: Sleep meds might be the best course if they aren't already been tried, nothing hard like Benzos to start with though, unless that's the route the psychiatrist suggests. But even then, I'd be a bit wary.
Hi Lothian Tam, my son has ASD. No ADHD or anything else diagnosed. My so is happy with his routine but we have cautious that he push's himself a little in preparation for College which he is keen to attend. We are all to aware of how easily he can build a routine that will become difficult for him to change later down the line.
We have been to see a doctor but in the UK only pediatricians can prescribe Melatonin. Our one is currently a waiting list of 6months! and we are on the list so we can at least try that at some point. We will be guided by our son a little bit if we are to go down other sleeping medication route as we wold like to (hopefully) guide him and give him the best tools so he can settle this in the best way that suits him.
Thank you so much for your reply. All the information that we can absorb just helps us as parents make better decisions on how to guide our son.
No problem Mini, happy to help.
If your son is getting ready to start college, or preparing for it, then I'd suggest trying to get an emergency referral from your GP speed the process up due to the insomnia. The argument being, you can't exactly afford to have your lad go to college whilst also adapting to new medication, that's essentially setting him up to fail or struggle. Better to get this nipped in the bud, so to speak.