A good night’s sleep key for children with autism, study shows
A University of Canterbury (UC) study has found that a reduction in sleep problems for children on the autism spectrum vastly improves those children’s behaviour and their parent’s wellbeing.
The study’s lead author Associate Professor Laurie McLay says the association between sleep and behavioural challenges in children is well-established but very few studies have examined whether enhancing children’s sleep quantity and quality has general benefits across key areas of development and functioning.
“Sleep problems affect between 40-80% of children on the autism spectrum; children with autism also experience high rates of challenging behaviour associated with sleep problems,” says Dr McLay.
“This makes sleep one of a few pivotal behaviours which, when enhanced may have huge collateral benefit for children’s daytime behaviour, functioning and wellbeing, as well as parental mental health and wellbeing.”
This study used data from earlier research that provided a behavioural sleep treatment programme for 41 children on the autism spectrum, of which 38 were observed to have a reduction in sleep problems.