Deciphering the connection: Autism and sleep quality in adults…

Approximately 9 min reading time. Downloadable version available here [ PDF 112KB].

Adequate and refreshing sleep is important for health and wellbeing. Poor sleep quality or insomnia can negatively affect multiple aspects of physical and mental health and can impair daytime functioning. Autistic adults generally report poor sleep quality compared to non-autistic adults, and for most Autistic adults, getting good quality sleep each night can be a challenge.

Common sleep issues reported by Autistic adults include:

• difficulty falling asleep
• night waking
• shorter night sleep
• poor sleep efficiency (percentage of time in bed spent sleeping)
• daily (circadian) sleep-wake patterns that are not in tune with work, education and social activities.