Sleep problems, sensory difficulties, and social participation in children with autism spectrum disorders

Unrestricted The aim of this pilot study is to investigate the prevalence and patterns of sleep problems in a clinical sample of children aged from 5 to 9 years and 4 months with autism spectrum disorders, and to explore currently unclear associations among sleep problems, sensory processing difficulties, social participation, and chronological age. Surveys including the Child's Sleep Habit Questionnaire (CSHQ), the Sensory Processing Measure Home Form-R (SPM Home Form-R), and a researcher-generated sleep medical history form were given to parents of participants during their visits in a sensory-based occupational therapy program in a private clinic. Thirty three children with a mean age of 6 years and 6 months were sampled. Seventy eight percent of children had sleep problems determined with the CSHQ cutoff score. Sleep patterns in children for whom sleep problems were consistently indicated both on CSHQ total score (greater than or equal to 41) and parent responses on the sleep medical form were more bedtime resistance, less overall sleep duration, and frequent night waking. Chronological age was positively significantly associated with overall sensory functions, but negatively significantly associated with overall sleep problems, night waking, and daytime sleepiness. Moreover, the longer the children slept at night, the better their vestibular functions were. The longer duration that children woke at night, the worse their proprioceptive function was. The more severe parasomnias the children had, the worse their social skills were. These findings not only affirm sleep is related to daily behavior and further to the engagement in occupations in this particular population, but also indicate compelling clinical implications. Further studies are strongly recommended.