Need for sleep

Hi,

I'm the parent of an eight year old boy who is autistic and has ADHD. He has incredible difficulty getting to sleep and has never slept through the night. His paediatrician told me today that autistic children don't need as much sleep as neurotypical children. 

I'm aware that lots of autistic people struggle to sleep, but I wasn't aware that there was a difference in how much sleep is actually required. Is this accurate? Should I not be concerned about my son getting perhaps seven hours of broken sleep per night?

He's only recently diagnosed, so I'm still trying to find out all I can. Thanks ever so much.

Parents
  • I have autism and ADHD, falling asleep was always an issue, ever since I discovered public library at the age of 10, until adulthood I was reading books until 4am, taking a nap until 7am, getting up, going to school that was starting 8am, dosing off during boring classes :P and compensating on Sunday, sleeping until noon

Reply
  • I have autism and ADHD, falling asleep was always an issue, ever since I discovered public library at the age of 10, until adulthood I was reading books until 4am, taking a nap until 7am, getting up, going to school that was starting 8am, dosing off during boring classes :P and compensating on Sunday, sleeping until noon

Children
No Data