weekly autism chit chat 2 | autism and sleep issues

Many autistic individuals struggle regularly with sleep issues and sleep disorders. This is something I have struggled with since childhood and throughout my life, and still now. I have have trouble with sleep onset (falling asleep) and am woken up by interoceptive hyperactivity.
Here are a few links with some more info about autism and sleep disturbances:
1. autism.org/web...
2. www.spectrumne...
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ABOUT ME:
My name is Ashra, I am 26 years old and late diagnosed autistic at 24. I live in Boston and am a content creator and hoping to pursue a PhD in autism research in the near future. I make content about autism awareness and acceptance, as well as my special interests which are thrifting and fragrances. Follow along for autism, fashion, and fragrance content :)

[@earllemongrab7960]

Thank you for sharing such intimate details. I don't hear people talking much about bladder function in the autistic community. I used to wet my bed till the age of 14. Going to sleep-overs was really anxiety inducing. "What if I pee into the bed". Once I did, and I tried to cover it up as well as I could. It was horror. The amount of shame I felt. I was so stressed and anxious as a child, have nightmares and I was a notorious sleep walker. When we went on family trips with the car I used to have to pee every hour on a 10 hour car drive. I was so ashamed of even communicating to my parents that I had to pee again even though we just stopped.

[@ashralouisa]

Thank you for sharing, I also don’t see many people talking about these struggles but it really helps knowing we aren’t alone in these experiences.

[@adelecairns3763]

I relate to all of this. I'm 44 and have been like this all my life. My mum used to say I was like the princess and the pea (you know the story where she can't sleep because she can feel a pea through 1000 mattresses?)

[@loveangelb4by]

thank you so much for sharing your experience! i always struggled with sleeping and felt like nighttime was the only peace and quiet my brain could get from the overstimulation my loud household came with. my brain would be running a mile a minute in my more anxious times. i also struggled being hypoaware of my bladder and would wet the bed through middle school and up to high school. this caused much stress for me socially. i was able to work through that issue but it still causes so much shame to discuss it. i appreciate your platform!

[@user-iz3ss5rb3z]

I love that you’re sharing more about this because it got me thinking about my own autistic experiences and interception issues thag I didn’t even realize

[@bonnythingsjen]

The sleep issues are so relatable. I have so much bladder anxiety. I had to change my sleeping position to relieve pressure a few years ago and it was so hard to adjust. My 14 yo daughter has been sleeping on a mattress on my floor for the last four years because night anxiety was too much for her. I keep hoping to make the transition back to her own space, but she isn’t comfortable, so I haven’t pushed it.

[@earllemongrab7960]

I actually love going to sleep nowadays. I don't struggle falling asleep anymore. What works for me: 1. I absolutely don't force myself to go to bed at a certain time anymore. When I have meltdowns, burnouts etc. it absolutely messes with my circadian rhythm. Due to my sensory sensitivity, the lack of a stable, predictable environment and my lack of ability to notice when I'm getting overloaded until it's too late, I get burnouts regularly. Respect your burnouts, they will mess with your sleep cycle. Accept it and just go to sleep when you're tiered. Even if that is 8 am in the morning. The distress of trying to go to sleep at a certain time only makes things worse and this expectation (at least for me) is mainly rooted in societies expectations - not your neurological or your body's needs. 2. Eating high water content fruit (NOT dried fruit, dates, bananas or persimmons) as the last meal or snack before going to bed. I don't quite know why but fruits (I enjoy (frozen) berries, watermelon, oranges before bed) calm me down. It gives me some healthy stimulation, it satisfies but does not leave a hard to digest brick in my stomach. Fruits bring me into this meditative state. 3. I don't force myself to get off my phone (just because some YT creator told me so). It actually helps me to regulate. Doom scrolling is very monotonous, predictable, safe stimulation. I do that while eating my frozen berries. 4. When my body is finally tiered, I put my phone away. I lie in bed in the "dead man pose", put my earplugs and headphones on. Have the clothes on that I find comfortable, placed all the pillows and blankets the way I like them and have a shirt (or any piece of cloth) over my eyes. Now I'm in this very low sensory stimulating chamber. I feel safe. Together with the fruits I ate previously my brain is able to unwind. This is the time when I process the entire day. It's an odd mix of mental overdrive and meditation. So don't be afraid to let your thoughts run wild. Your brain tries to make order out of the chaos. Let it! This can take 15min or 2 hours. Don't push yourself. Relax. Let your brain do it's thing. It knows best. After my brain has unwound and my brain is also tiered. I role too my side, remove the headphones and then I just fall asleep. Hope this helps someone. All the best!!! Much love ♥

[@ashralouisa]

Thank you ❤

[@jenniferwistey7323]

Thank you for sharing your experiences. My 8 year daughter is being evaluated for autism (by a specialist who works mainly with girls) and I watch your videos to understand better what she might be going through. Here are some of the things we've tried to help her sleep better -- special nite nite light bulb in her lamp so that she can keep it on all night to help with any fears, a weighted blanket, fresh air and exercise every day, calming bath before bed, and several snack times and bathroom times in the evening to fill her tummy and empty her bladder. Even so, sleep is really hard for her. I'm thankful for you and the many other young autistic women here on youtube sharing about your lives with us. It really helps her to feel a part of a community and not alone.

[@ashralouisa]

That is amazing you are making all these efforts to support your daughter in sleeping. It sounds like you are doing a really great job and i’m glad she has people in her life to support and accommodate her needs.

[@Montezuma03]

I remember having problems sleeping, staring at the clock for what felt like forever, doing weird games with the numbers, solving things in my head. Now that we have phones I just try to read something on my phone that isn't too engaging, and fall asleep that way. It works much better for me than trying to sleep with nothing.

[@ashralouisa]

Im glad you found reading on your phone is helpful, that can be helpful for me too sometimes.

[@audreydarlene7544]

i feel very hyper aware of my body as well when i’m going to sleep and feel the need to go to the bathroom more than necessary. since i was a child i too have memories of staying up late at night with racing thoughts and existential dread. now i self medicate with cannabis to help with sleep and racing thoughts but if i’m unable to then i have a very hard time getting to sleep.

[@loopylori2563]

There's a high incidence rate of autism in Celiac Disease. Have you been checked for Celiac? I have both and had the same problems you describe. Vitamin deficiencies are common in both autism and Celiac. I take B Complex vitamins daily, tryptophan and B6 pyridoxine, and magnesium an hour before bedtime and sleep soundly. B Complex vitamins B12 cobalamin and thiamine B 1 help with the bladder issues, both urgency and retention problems. Seriously, get checked for Celiac before eliminating gluten from your diet. Gluten elimination prior to blood anti gluten antibodies will invalidate testing and delay diagnosis. ❤

[@courtney9212]

Thanks for sharing, especially about being overly aware of needing to go to the bathroom. I never realized that was a symptom, but my son and I both experience various aspects of what you described! He is up at least 10 times a night and I'll say, "you just went 20 minutes ago!" I thought he just liked being in the bathroom 🤦‍♀️

[@roberttravers7587]

Great video chitchat look forward to the next one😁😁😁

[@mathematistic299]

I've had similar problems falling asleep for as long as I can remember clearly (so about 40 years). I feel my heart, stomach and bladder (interroception) more than when I'm not in bed, as well as the position of my arms and legs (propioception) and the orientation of my body relative to gravity (vestibular sense). At about age 7 I noticed that these last two start to become altered when I'm right about to fall alseep. I feel like I'm floating vertically or upside down, and it feels like my arms and legs are in positions that I know they can't be in given that I'm in the bed. So when I would be trying to fall asleep, I would try to imagine these sensations to get them to manifest sooner. Like i would imagine that I was on a rollercoaster, feeling the changing downward and upward forces, throwing my arms in the air. I don't know if it worked, but it did distract me from the "problem solving" that was constantly going on in my brain.

[@BiancaParker-e2z]

Thanks for speaking about this. Have experienced many of the sames issues and it's really nice to hear someone else talking about them. I try to focus my brain on only one thing when I'm trying to go to sleep, setting it a task, usually writing a scene from a story.

[@chloebunde4455]

I really relate to the sleep struggles you describe here! I think this is partially why I struggle with rigid schedules with early start times. I get so anxious about not getting enough sleep. This is hard because having a bad night of sleep makes it much more likely that I will get overstimulated/dysregulated to the point of a meltdown. Sleep struggles and the related dysregulation are some of the most difficult autistic experiences for me.

[@Peanutthegolddust]

The anxiety and nightmare portions are me to a tee

[@BritishAccentWithAarna]

Hello mam

[@user-iz3ss5rb3z]

This is so relevant because I usually have like anxiety related sleep dreams where if I have to do something the next day I’ll dream about it all night and ruminate over doing the task, today I had a meeting I wasn’t prepared for and last night I couldn’t stop dreaming about the meeting like my brain was like do your presentation, you’re in the meeting right now and I didn’t realize some variant of this had been happening every night

[@ashralouisa]

Yessss i so relate

[@geraniumflowers5908]

the using the bathroom before bed thing…i do the same thing! no idea this could be related to autism. the moment i lay down i feel like i have to get back up. i also get super stressed about the time i go to sleep/getting enough sleep. once it passes 10 pm i get suuuuper anxious if i haven’t gotten to bed yet. i feel like i also need much more sleep than a neurotypical person…i really can’t function well unless i get at least 9 hours.

[@ashralouisa]

Yes!!

[@user-iz3ss5rb3z]

I love the part about grab your stim toy! I looked down and saw I already had one in my hands 💗

[@ashralouisa]

❤

[@secretlyalittlebug]

this is so relatable. I am autistic and have ocd too and had the same struggles with sleep! so much anxiety and constant nightmares, that I have always attributed to OCD as a form of intrusive thoughts kindve so its really interesting to hear someone talk about this subject!! I also pee a million times before bed like i cant even lie down without trying to pee 3 times. I love this series thank u for making it!!

[@secretlyalittlebug]

also i dont really have tips lol but i did notice if I tried to do duolingo or something very tiring for my brain before bed then I had less racing thoughts cus i think my brain got kindve tired out! otherwise i play with kinetic sand and listen to calming tones lol

[@ashralouisa]

Thank you for sharing and letting me know you experience similar things, it definitely helps me feel less alone

[@Snakecelot]

I struggle often because of the bed sheets or blankets not feeling "right". Either they are not exactly as I need them to be or they feel too rough (even though they are actually soft).

[@ashralouisa]

I can relate

[@Snakecelot]

@@ashralouisa it can be so annoying, especially when I'm too tired