At the moment my Son is going to sleep late and waking early, despite our best efforts to get him into bed. I think the days being lighter for longer doesn’t help. He’d had a bad day yesterday which caused him to be unsettled. Is this an ASD problem or is this just typical of most children? . If it’s an ASD problem how can you address it?
He sleeps on average 8 or 9 hours a night but sometimes 7 hours. I have found drawing his black out blinds seems to help. He has a trampoline too.The next step is to try some stories that involve characters having to problem solve. Thank you for some helpful tips.
I would definitely suggest a halogen lamp for his room for night. And I would also suggest you help him activate his imagination properly by reading classic books. Ones where characters work through life stuff with a bit of wisdom. The Chronicles of Narnia, Jungle Book, Harry Potter, etc. This will help redirect focus by using much more of the brain for active listening, picture-thinking, and problems which don't cause emotional distress.
Reassurance is a NeuroTypical technique. It works well for NTs because the use of language and semiotics is where the NT brain is more focused and active. I could use a word to inform you everything will be OK. And that is enough for problem-solving for a Typical individual. It almost 'over-codes' the language (like a software operation) if, in my head, I'm thinking that something is wrong. However, this doesn't work for Autistic Neuro-Wiring. We analyse different. We reason different. We might use formula-thinking and most of us use picture thinking. So a word is pointless when I can imagine a whole operation.
What we need is the analytical breakdown and practical reasoning to sort out a problem. All humans have a capacity to reason with a little more precision, it's just not often part of society, mostly because it's bad for business or simply not interesting to most to convey the step-by-step operations behind the scenes or the exact ledger of the finances of a thing down to the penny. So it's fallen by the wayside. But not for Autistics. Here's an example of how you could reason with him. For autistics, critical reasoning can better happen when spoken through. And sometimes talking details through will actually take the weight off of them.
Example: "Let's get a paper and pen and write down everything today bothering you. Hold nothing back! Everything is allowed even if it's something mummy could do better. (Make your list). Let's think of ways to fix all these things together. We may not fix them right away, but we'll have a list and I will be able to help think of ways to make it better" (This is a practical way of creating reassurance. I'm actively going to think about how to fix these so you don't have to carry all this alone). Note: He won't ever stop analysing and problem-solving. It is unique to the Autistic Brain and absolutely brilliant. It is an amazing feature, but needs proper learned and structured discipline/tools/techniques, which take years. Society needs a ratio of it's inhabitants to make trajectories with damaged bridges, to work through the math of tall buildings, to figure out how to keep an aeroplane in the air, to notice when there are damaging smells in the air. The list is not exhaustive. When we don't have something purposeful and useful to work through, we can become overwhelmed with the meaning of life or small critical things we might need to let go of. In my family we remind one another to analyse things not people. And this is why it is incredibly important to read him classic stories at night without pictures.
Meltdowns - the best thing you can do is help him get it out of his system. The meltdowns won't ever go away, they'll just look different as he gets older. We cannot ever dull our senses. So we will always have sever reactions if we don't use some kind of Shielding Techniques (wear 100% cotton, always bring ear plugs). Maybe a fan for his room to stand in front of? The goal is to funnel that anger or frustration into something useful or always have a way for him to Find Relief. Buy a punching bag or trampoline, a jumprope, even. If he has trouble with heat, he could have a biology not built for it - there are individuals who don't sweat and need to be mindful of what they 're exposed to as their biology doesn't work the same. Also, polyester IS plastic. Nylon, polys - these are all made from petroleum. They will trap heat and Autistics tend to feel this before others. While it's hard to avoid elastic on underwear, I would make sure his clothes and bedding are 100% Natural fibres. Tree fibres are quite amazing for keeping one cool in the summer.
He is nearly six. We have black out blinds which we use. No Halogen lamp though. I read to him but I read picture books to him. If a number of things have upset him that day is it worth trying to reassure him if I can about them? Yesterday his new 1:1 TA who he only met on Monday went home unwell. He liked her and had started to form a bond with her, as a result did very well that day. Then we took him to have his haircut usually ok with it, but it was too hot and noisy for him. This resulted in a meltdown when he got home.Is it possible to help him work through these?
There's not enough information here to sufficiently help! How old is he? Do you have black out or heavy dark curtains for his windows? Is he exposed to LEDs at night or do you have one halogen lamp in his room for bed time (yes, they are still legal for light sensitive individuals and I'd suggest all humans should be, but autistic individuals even more so, see: lightaware.org). If he's young, do you read him to sleep at night (older classics without pictures like Paddington or The Little Prince for ex.). The mind can start to race and become excited, so focusing and re-directing one's thoughts on an imaginative story where no problem-solving is required is really important. Excitement is the same mechanism in the brain as Anxiety.
Autistic children will naturally be more light sensitive, as they aren't able to dull the senses like NeuroTypical individuals. So, LEDs can keep them up as many have a very high concentration of UV (daylight) and absolutely no IR (evening light). Filament bulbs mimic the sun and the sun does not give off the same wavelength as CFLs and LEDs, which are unnatural. Autistic children can also have hyper-active minds, they can be problem-solving all kinds of things on a normal basis. It is one part of our natural abilities, which if matured and disciplined properly, can make us specialists. As children, we need affirmation and aid sifting through and summarising whatever we might be 'trouble-shooting'. Any unresolved issues will keep us WIDE awake. For Autistic individuals, children to adults, putting a thing 'aside' won't ever help but it will compound the frustration. If we are working on a giant problem, we need to learn to break it into hyper-focused steps, so we can make satisfactory daily progress.
My son (in his 20's) sometimes puts a T shirt over his eyes - he's not a fan of sleep masks. And I've read doctors who make sure to get sufficient darkness as blue light interferes with our circadian rhythm.
