Autism & sleep | Divergent Voices - hosted by Purple Ella

In this episode of Divergent Voices, Purple Ella chats to autism writer James Ward-Sinclair about the challenges autistic people can face around sleep, and what has worked for him when it comes to getting better rest.
In this video:
02:21 - Strategies to help with getting better sleep
05:49 - Coping the day after a bad night
09:09 - Managing sleep in a relationship
13:03 - Tips to avoid over-analysing sleep
This video was created by Clinical Partners for the NHS. The series is part of autism unlocked - a dedicated space for autistic people and their families to receive expert advice and guidance on a range of issues.
About Purple Ella:
Ella is a KZbin Content Creator and advocate. You can find their channel here: / purpleella
About James Ward-Sinclair:
James is an autistic writer and blogger at Autistic & Unapologetic, as well as an advocate for the wider autistic community. You can find his blog here:
autisticanduna...
Visit the autism unlocked website:
lsc.autismunlo...
Find out more about Clinical Partners:
www.clinical-p...

[@Mountain-Man-3000]

The production quality of these videos is juat tremendously high. Kudos to the team for producing them!

[@Wotansfogal]

I think it would benefit a lot of autistic people who ruminate about things before bed, to take time during the day to sit in a quiet, dark space free of sensory stimuli and reflect on those thoughts to process them in advance. I like to do this by wearing earbuds and a noice cancelling headphone while wearing a sleeping mask to block light and sound so I can focus on my own thinking and processing.

[@sherrym5556]

I'm definitely a fan of my OWN ROOM even when I was married. Everyone needs their own space. My best recipe is lavender spray too! Plus peace n quiet with my 5 dogs piled around me, a tiny MG of serequel, my eye mask blue tooth on, ( got on amazon around 20 bucks) worth it,listening to Terrence Mckenna usually, sometimes just 8 hour tranquil sleep music. Sometimes a cup of sleep tea, or moon milk is nice.

[@vazzaroth]

And then there's people out there where their tactic is just "I lay down and then wake up 8 hours later every time" -__-

[@TheColourAwesomer]

Waking up at the same time every day is super important. It sucks but it's the most important thing to naturally feel tired. Feeling like crap the next day sucks, but knowing that little by little are strengthening your body's internal sleep cycle is a nice thought.

[@vazzaroth]

Oh my GOD I hate it when I sorta wake up in the middle of the night b/c the cat jumped into the floor or whatever. That alone would be OK, but then if I either have a strong thought (like "Wait, what time is it???" or a second smaller noise that I normally would have slept through happens, like a rustle or wind blows or something, BAM I'm bolt awake now for at least 35m minimum and there is zero chance I'm getting back into the whole 'shut down' cycle again until I feel exhausted. So many of my days have been ruined by random events like this, and I can never believe we're just expected to get to work every day on time, work hard, all that other BS. I was fired from my first job for not getting in on time and I remember even back then, un-dx'd, thinking "So, what, you can only be employed if you sleep in a sealed silence chamber or what?" and then like a decade later realized not everyone has these issues discussed here lol

[@briena8881]

It's kind of irritating for me to hear other people talking about sleeping issues that I actually can relate to, and not only a bit, but all the way through. I always felt as if I was failing to go to bed and sleep in a "normal" way. There are so many stories and advices in my mind when it didn't work, and how others made my sleep even worse. For example, that I should go to bed early because the next day was an important one. Or "just skip sleeping routine part X (brushing teeth, making a journaling entry,...) to save time this time to be able to sleep faster". Or the classical "stop thinking so much, just go to bed". What I am still struggling with is that since I started living with a partner instead of my family, I adapted an evening routine with them that involves them and an activity together. I really enjoy this and normally this works very well for me. The thing is, if they are in the mood to do something else, and it leaves me suddenly "on my own", it's mostly a huge issue. Neither can I easily switch to an "alone mode", nor can I jump to a point of ending an activity and really am ready for sleeping. So in a way, I found a solution that works most of the time, but it makes me so dependent and the other person so bound, that I sometimes wonder, if I should cancel together activities as routines and establish alone routines.

[@chrismaxwell1624]

Sleep for me can be difficult as I get my alone time when it later and people are bed. So I need that that alone time. With out it I get anxiety and can't sleep. So I get my alone time and no anxiety.

[@sbsman4998]

Lovely video, both handsome people. I had to deal w stressful customer relationships operating a repair type business, when sleeping I mentally prepare and even complete my work projects step by step in detail while solving problems, conflicts w people is enemy of sleep! These days cooking and light home repairs are my fate, but visualization still works to calm mind while ruminating yummy soup, taste it smell it sleep on it ~~

[@TheColourAwesomer]

Guys, I love this a lot! Incredibly helpful. But PLEASE use an audio compressor, and balance the mic levels better next time. No sleep + this = 😬

[@shannantreasure]

This was so helpful. Thank you!

[@TokuBaby]

I always hear about touching feeling like needles. I have a question wondering if it’s just me, when I’m awake, I can usually deal with noises. But when I’m falling asleep, ANY sound especially if it’s sudden or not rhythmic, sounds unbearably loud and echoing. It’s awful and it always keeps me from sleep. So my room has to be extremely quiet unless I have white noise or something. Do others have this experience?

[@broitssnow]

I’m kind of the opposite in a sense. I can’t deal with a lot of distracting noise but I also can’t deal with perfect silence but that’s probably because I have really bad tinnitus. I always have to have some kind of background noice like a fan blowing, running water, or a fireplace crackling. But anything more than that is too distracting.

[@sbsman4998]

Noise! No way I get a good night sleep w someone in room, noise like fans ok but not if it squeaks or rumbles unpredictably w gas garden blowers the worst!!

[@broitssnow]

@@sbsman4998 my daughter will be born next month so we got one of those Hatch Baby sound machines and I’ve been using it in the meantime and I keep it on Rain sounds and I’ve been sleeping like a baby ever since

[@lenberry6721]

bookmark: 9:11