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Hi all,

This is my first post here but I have been reading through the forums for quite some time now and have found them very helpful. We have two children, a 13yr old girl who occasionally shows very mild ASD traits and a 9 year old son who is Diagnosed ASD with a few other issues.

James is in the care of a team of Physios, OT's etc that work in conjunction with his school and us and that is really helpful. His ASD has never really caused any major issues as he is just so loveable and quirky that we just see him more as unique than than anything else. His main things are that he cannot use executive functioning and cannot write. He also has some muscular issues. Behaviourally he is usually good at home but very intolerant at school. He is fine with people he forms a bond with and very quick to dismiss anyone else. If a thought comes into his head it comes out of his mouth and he can't stand people who make him feel different (fair enough).

Lately though we have been having real issues with getting him to slow his brain down(that's the only way I ca explain it). He can't fall asleep until after midnight each night and then has to be up at 7 for school (although he finishes at 1 so that is lucky) and when talking to him he appears to listen but doesn't really take in what we are saying. Even getting him to put shoes on is an effort because he gets side tracked every 5 seconds. I have been thinking that maybe taking away his x-box for a while might help but was wondering if any of you have the same issue and what you may have done that helped. I am completely against him being on medication of any sort at this point so that is not an option. But I am open to all suggestions Just to clarify though, he has no xbox after 7pm and even with no tv he will lie in bed and do nothing and still not fall asleep. If we force him to sleep before he is ready he just wakes up all night with Parasomnia.

Sorry for the ramble lol

Welcome to WP

My son had trouble falling asleep up through the 4th grade. Then we established the bedtime routine. Roughly, dinner around 6, no video games, television, or computer after 7pm to reduce visual stimulation. Bath/shower, hair-brushing, and tooth-brushing 1 hr before lights out. Then reading time 30 mins before lights out. Then lights out. Every night practically th same for the past 5 yrs. Eventually it worked, and it helped my son become an excellent reader. Bottom line with many kids is, routine, routine, routine.

One other thing that helped sleeping/getting to bed: My son had always been a snorer through elementary school, and a couple years ago he participated in a sleep study at the local children's hospital where they wired him up and monitored his sleeping. Through this, we discovered he had mild to moderate sleep apnea that was interfering with sleep, due to large tonsils. Had the tonsil taken out, and he started getting a good night's sleep within two weeks. So the lesson here is, the more you get to know your child the better you will be able to support him.

Also, we have managed to avoid medication to this point. Welcome again, and best of luck!

A warm bath might help if he enjoys them, soft music and making sure he gets lots of exercise durring the day. All this has helped my son get to sleep at a good time. Goodluck and welcome to WP

Thanks so much for the replies There are some really good ideas there. Some of them we have tried and failed but I think I might have a go at the bath closer to bed time and maybe put some candles etc in the bathroom and make it very relaxing. Reading at bedtime is something we have really gotten out of the habit of doing so I think that sounds like a plan as well.

Sometimes it makes a big difference just to know that other people have experienced the same thing, so thanks for that You have motivated me to tackle tonight with a whole new outlook.

Your son sounds SOOOO much like mine.

Around your son's age is when my son started to read to himself in bed, and that has helped with sleep a HUGE amount. Of course, sometimes he wants to KEEP reading, and we've been a little flexible on that, but, overall, it was a really positive thing for us. If he isn't a big reader yet, keep working to cross the hump and get him inspired. It is such a wonderful thing for kids, and so much improves when reading fluency is acheived.

Many families have had success with Melatonin, but we've never tried it. The main thing is sticking to routine at bedtime AND with the wake up time.

If his mind is jumping a lot other times you might want to look at diet, playing around with removing gluten or casine or soy (those seem to be the most common 3). Totally unscientifically I'd say that some diet element seems to be at play in about 1/3 of the kids. And it can't hurt to check it out.

Otherwise, I've noticed my son's mind wanders more in times of overall stress than in times when he's been more comfortable. Reduce the stress (school, sensory, whatever) and it tends to improve. As long as it isn't causing him huge problems I wouldn't worry about it. It's just part of who he is. There are subtle things you can do to redirect his attention, and using those tends to be the best approach. A teacher might tap his desk; you might gently touch his shoulder. Things like that.

Long run, my son's biggest problem has come from the writing. I don't know how bad it is for your son, but that can come to a head in middle school. Just forewarning you. The more comfortable he can be with the keyboard, the better.

As for taking away the X-box, I kind of doubt that would help. Try to keep its use within a defined structure, definitely. Beyond that ... well, we don't have one, so I can't say for sure

We've gone through a combination of steps to come up with something that works for my daughter. Here's our routine:

Bath for 30 minutes
Put on pajamas
Take supplements (Melatonin and GABA)
Small snack with milk
Brush teeth
Reading and calm time...she can do word finds or something else quiet as well
Turn on relaxation CD (we got one that causes the brain to produce relaxing brain waves)
Kiss mommy and daddy..mommy stays and gently rubs her back for about 5 minutes
Sleep

It used to take hours to get her to sleep but after 2 years of this routine she's out every night within 15 minutes:)

Welcome to WP!

Wow thanks again guys. Eeyore I love the sound of that bedtime routine, it makes me feel sleepy just thinking about it lol. Where do you get the Melatonin from?

DW it's interesting that you mention Melatonin as I did some research and since then we always make sure the house is very dimly lit after a certain time as the dark is meant to help your body produce Melatonin. I didn't even realise that you could get it as a supplement.

My son's hand writing is by far his worst issue as well. He has a tremor as well as hyper flexibility in his hands so it can be quite difficult and painful for him to write ( he also hates it because it is boring). At school he has a lady that scribes for him but I need to get him to start working with his typing program more as I think that later on that is going to be very important. They are already doing a portion of his work on a laptop in class. I have just worked out that writing with a pen that is about the thickness of a pencil causes him less pain as it is easy for him to hold and he doesn't have to add much pressure like he would with a pencil.

CRD I made a warm bubble bath for him last night with some oils and candles etc. He loved it ! Came out saying how relaxing it was and he was asleep before midnight which is a big improvement!

Gosh, you guys are great I already have so many wonderful things to put into practice. I love these forums lol. So nice to know we are not alone.

I find Melatonin in the Amino Acid section of my local vitamin / health food stores. You might also test 5-HTP which is a form of L-Tryptophan.

Definitely turning out the lights and making the house dim will help. And now that the days are shorter that will be easier to do. Also, no video stimulation for 2 to 3 hours prior to bedtime. The refresh rate from TV, Computer monitors, etc tends to overstimulate the brain. A friend whose son is ADHD was told by her doctor that video monitor stimulation should be restricted to less than an hour a day.

I get the melatonin and the GABA (as well as other supplements like Super Nu Thera) from Kirkman Labs. I like them because they are very focused on supplements for spectrum disorders and everything is gluten and casein free. Also, they have 2 week trial bottles of everything they sell which only cost $3.75 and give you a chance to see if it helps before you sink a lot of money into a supplement. They're really good about shipping...they are in Oregon and I live in Washington state, so I usually get my a package in the mail the day after I order. Of course the farther away the more mailing time, but they are very consistent about getting stuff out on the day of the order. Here's a link to their site:

http://www.kirkmanlabs.com/

I forgot to mention the reason that we use GABA and melatonin instead of just melatonin. We found that melatonin by itself helped her fall asleep initially but she was back up and running around the house around 3AM. On the advice of a friend we tried GABA (we use the one with Niacinamide and Inositol). The GABA is a neurotransmitter that regulates excitability of neurons in the nervous system. The Niacinamide and Inositol that are in the supplement are B complex vitamins that help the body process the GABA more efficiently.

Here is a link about GABA on Wikipedia (the long name for GABA is gamma aminobutyric acid)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-Aminobutyric_acid

What we found is that the melatonin helps her initially fall asleep. The GABA makes it so she can stay asleep all night. I have also talked to parents who have had some success with using a small dosage of GABA with breakfast to help calm hyperactive symptoms during the day.

GABA makes me feel weird - irregular heartbeat, shortness of breath,etc. So unless I fall asleep before these feelings crop up, I have trouble falling asleep with it.

Of course your mileage may vary.