Step 2 - Sleep
Children on the spectrum often have serious sleep problems. Annie did not sleep through the night until she was six years old! Our children cannot heal their immune systems or brains without proper sleep.
We found a bedtime routine to be helpful. Two hours before bed, we have a "no electronics policy." This helps Brody and Annie wind down and fall asleep faster. We try to follow the same schedule/routine at bedtime every night...bath, brush teeth, read stories, go to sleep.
While there are many supplements and drugs to help children sleep, none of them are without risks/side effects. Therefore, the only intervention we feel comfortable endorsing is using music played at night designed to regulate brain waves. Or some children respond better to white noise.
The music I use with Annie is created by Dr. Jeffrey Thompson, a specialist in healing through sound and brainwave entrainment. To read more about brainwave entrainment and Dr. Thompson's methods, go to: http://www.neuroacoustic.com/index.html. I bought three of his CDs on amazon: The Alpha Relaxation System, Delta Sleep System, and Theta Meditation System. http://www.amazon.com/Alpha-Relaxation-System-Jeffrey-Thompson/dp/B00000I5E2.
For Annie, the one that works like magic is the Alpha Relaxation System. However, it took some trial and error to figure this out. When I tried the Delta and Theta CDs, Annie would not sleep and was very restless. Now, if I forget to turn on the alpha music, Annie has trouble falling asleep. I leave the music playing all night in her room.
We have a friend who swears by another music system called Byonetics: http://www.2-b-well.org/autism-treatment-program-help/. She says it helped her son sleep through the night, improved his mood, and increased his overall awareness. The program is significantly more expensive than buying some CDs on Amazon but then again, it is customized for your child and claims to do more than improve sleep. We cannot personally vouch for this program but thought it was worth mentioning.
Some kids sleep better when white noise is played all night (Brody is one of them). Examples of white noise can be the hum of an air filter or you can buy a cheap white noise machine from many retailers. Again, this is a cost effective, low risk intervention to try.
With any of these, the opposite effect can occur. In other words, for some kids, the music or white noise may be too much for their sensory systems and may make their sleep issues even worse. If you see agitation, please discontinue.
There are many other music systems designed to improve sleep. These are the only ones we have personal knowledge of. If you've had success with another system, please send us an email so that we can share it with other readers of this website.
p.s. - we said in Step 1 to unplug electrical devices in your child's room to reduce exposure to EMF radiation. In Annie's room, the only thing I have plugged in is the CD player for her music. An air filter is the only thing using electrical power in Brody's room. For us, the benefits of the music/air filter outweighed the risks of having one electrical device in their rooms.
We found a bedtime routine to be helpful. Two hours before bed, we have a "no electronics policy." This helps Brody and Annie wind down and fall asleep faster. We try to follow the same schedule/routine at bedtime every night...bath, brush teeth, read stories, go to sleep.
While there are many supplements and drugs to help children sleep, none of them are without risks/side effects. Therefore, the only intervention we feel comfortable endorsing is using music played at night designed to regulate brain waves. Or some children respond better to white noise.
The music I use with Annie is created by Dr. Jeffrey Thompson, a specialist in healing through sound and brainwave entrainment. To read more about brainwave entrainment and Dr. Thompson's methods, go to: http://www.neuroacoustic.com/index.html. I bought three of his CDs on amazon: The Alpha Relaxation System, Delta Sleep System, and Theta Meditation System. http://www.amazon.com/Alpha-Relaxation-System-Jeffrey-Thompson/dp/B00000I5E2.
For Annie, the one that works like magic is the Alpha Relaxation System. However, it took some trial and error to figure this out. When I tried the Delta and Theta CDs, Annie would not sleep and was very restless. Now, if I forget to turn on the alpha music, Annie has trouble falling asleep. I leave the music playing all night in her room.
We have a friend who swears by another music system called Byonetics: http://www.2-b-well.org/autism-treatment-program-help/. She says it helped her son sleep through the night, improved his mood, and increased his overall awareness. The program is significantly more expensive than buying some CDs on Amazon but then again, it is customized for your child and claims to do more than improve sleep. We cannot personally vouch for this program but thought it was worth mentioning.
Some kids sleep better when white noise is played all night (Brody is one of them). Examples of white noise can be the hum of an air filter or you can buy a cheap white noise machine from many retailers. Again, this is a cost effective, low risk intervention to try.
With any of these, the opposite effect can occur. In other words, for some kids, the music or white noise may be too much for their sensory systems and may make their sleep issues even worse. If you see agitation, please discontinue.
There are many other music systems designed to improve sleep. These are the only ones we have personal knowledge of. If you've had success with another system, please send us an email so that we can share it with other readers of this website.
p.s. - we said in Step 1 to unplug electrical devices in your child's room to reduce exposure to EMF radiation. In Annie's room, the only thing I have plugged in is the CD player for her music. An air filter is the only thing using electrical power in Brody's room. For us, the benefits of the music/air filter outweighed the risks of having one electrical device in their rooms.
