Seasonal Not-Sleeping
December 16, 2006 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
1am.
2.30am.
Those are the times that my 9 1/2 year old son Charlie has fallen asleep these past two nights/mornings. DeeDee in Canada noted in a comment (on the post Neurodiversity Is More Than Skin Deep (#543)) that the season—this holiday season of Xmas carols piped in everywhere, tinsel and holly a-decking the walls, that anticipation of the holiday in the air (and of time off from school)—have been affecting her son:
“it’s hard for the mind and body to rest when there is so much going on every day.”
To the season of season not-sleeping….. (We’ll see what time Charlie falls asleep tonight…..)















The only one of mine consistently falling asleep well these days is the “most likely to be neurotypical” one, the one whose autism label from the school district I question.
S. is just going nuts from schedule disruptions. (I expect he’ll calm down again around Jan. 10 or 15 or so.) C.’s sleep schedule is disrupted, napping during the day and singing for an hour or two after her twin brother has fallen asleep. (Fortunately, he can sleep almost through anything, including, apparently, having her climbing all over him.)
And I’m sure they’re picking up on their parents’ stress — there are things that people expect us to be doing for Christmas, and some of those are things we really don’t want to do, but also don’t want to put up with the scolding/nagging from other people, so we have to decide for a number of things, do we do X or bear the unpleasant social consequences?
I tend to do X……..Charlie senses our stress, for sure! Yes, I would say mid-January is when things will return to “routine,
finally—then Charlie has a week off in February…..
We’re going with consequences on some things.
Now, there are things that are only half-expected that I’m happy to throw myself into.
C. and T.’s classmates got toys from them on the last day of school, for example.
Spring break here is in March. So we get the Thanksgiving interruption, the long Christmas/New Year’s break, 1 week in March and it’s over around Memorial Day, and then we have to find the summer routine. (Nobody in the household qualifies for school during the summer.)
Help just moved to an appartment my son isnt sleeping he bangs the wall about to be kicked out cause his banging is bothering the neighbors. Hes severe Austistic